


Thieving a Cop

by diceysmiles



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Breaking and Entering, Cop Fetish, Enter plot..., Explicit Sexual Content, False Accusations, Humor, Interrogation, M/M, One Night Stands, Shameless Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2018-11-09 23:44:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 40,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11115399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diceysmiles/pseuds/diceysmiles
Summary: Living in a motel, clothing being his sole material possessions, and leaving the window open at night was Naruto's way of expressing his carefree spirit. Breaking into an open window seemed like a good idea to Sasuke. Until he found out the tenant was still there, with a gun, and god, he was hot.





	1. Caught red-handed

Naruto sat in bed with the sheets pooled around his waist. He had just taken a shower and decided to forgo dressing. He was feeling lazy so he decided he'd dress in the morning. Besides he didn't really care to do laundry and his last pair of clean underwear were hanging off the towel rack in an attempt to air dry. By morning they should be fine and his partner would arrive with a dry-cleaned uniform. The fucker had soiled his uniform with vomit Friday after work then apologize saying he'd have it dry cleaned by Monday morning. Usually, Naruto took his uniforms into the dry cleaners Friday morning and picked them up in the afternoon. But because of his partner's fuck up, he arrived when the place had already closed and wouldn't be open again until Monday. But his partner insisted that he knew of a dry cleaner that was open on the weekends. So without further ado, Naruto stripped and gave the soiled clothing to his partner and drove home in his boxers. Not like he gave a shit. Where he lived, people sometimes walked around in the nude. Well, maybe not walk around. More like they ran out of their rooms covering their junk while simultaneously running away from irate women. Usually, a wife or girlfriend who'd caught them cheating. Heh. His chosen abode had interesting people that was for sure.

Naruto stayed in a motel that had weekly and monthly rates. The owner not only gave him a lower price per night but also discounted his price by forty percent every thirty days. In reality, he didn't pay more for his single room than other people paid for a studio. The only difference was, the furniture wasn't his and he came home to a clean room every day. So what if the only things he actually owned were a few nick nacks and the clothes on his back? What more could a guy want? Naruto was comfortable with his living arrangements. He was an easy going guy. He was humble. He...well, didn't give a shit about appearances. When he was kicked out of the foster system when he became a legal adult and had to find a place to live that didn't require a credit check, it was a no-brainer. Plus, the manager offered him a weekend maintenance job. He worked ten hours on Saturday and Sunday and that paycheck alone covered the price of his room. Sometimes, he'd even get extra pay if he covered night shifts for whoever called in sick. But that was back then, now he had a regular job but the motel was home. And the manager and the employees that were still around when he first moved in was family. No, Naruto wouldn't change his living arrangements unless the motel was being torn down. Because it was the only place he ever lived in that truly felt like home.

Naruto was smoking and listening to his current neighbor bang his latest conquest. It wasn't a pastime he liked to partake in but when you lived in a place that didn't have adequate insulation between the walls, there really wasn't much you could do about it. He considered turning on the TV but decided against it. The lights were off and he had the window open to let the cool night breeze freshen the room. The nights were fresh enough for him to leave the window open all night. Naruto took a last drag of his cigarette and smashed the butt in the ashtray on the nightstand. With his neighbor's last groan, Naruto stretched out and palmed his semi-erect dick to settle it down. He yawned and made himself comfortable before closing his eyes. But before he could doze off, the window squeaked. Naruto opened his eyes and saw a shadow at the window. Whoever it was had decided to come into his room. Naruto couldn't help the smirk that took over his lips. In all the years he had ever lived in the motel, this was the first time someone had dared to break into his room. The patrol car parked right in front of his door was usually a good deterrent for thieves. Not to mention that besides the motel's crappy TV, he didn't have anything of value.

Naruto waited for the person to go past his bed and make his way to the closet before he sat up and turned on the lamp on the nightstand. He leaned forward to get a better view and cleared his throat. He knew that whoever it was had tensed and was probably trying to decide his next move. Naruto chuckled and cocked his gun that he kept under his pillow just to make it clear that he wasn't going to be caught off guard.

The thief heard the cock of the gun and snorted. He stood up and slowly made his way around the island that separated the closet from the main area of the room.

"I guess you caught me red-handed," the thief said and smirked at the blond who was leaning forward on the bed with a gun resting securely in his hand.

' _Of course, an open window was just too easy.'_

"Hm, I suppose so," Naruto said with a tilt of his head. He took in the man before him with an appraising look. Dark hair. Light skin. Dark eyes. Cocky smirk. Naruto couldn't help but wolf-whistle at him.

' _Fuck, he's hot!'_

The thief's smirk widened before he looked away and snorted.

' _I might get out of this if I play my cards right.'_

"Does that mean you're not calling the cops?" the thief said turning back around with a soft smile playing on his lips.

Naruto reached into the nightstand drawer and pulled out his badge. "No point calling when there's one already here."

"Hn," said the thief with narrowed eyes.

' _Well, fuck.'_ He reached his arms out, placing one wrist over the other.

"So, are you going to cuff me and drag me downtown?"

"I wouldn't mind cuffing you," Naruto said with a smirk and winked at him. Then he shrugged and pointed at the window with the gun that was still cradled in his hand. "Or you could just leave the way you came in."

"You'd just let me go, no questions asked?" the thief said incredulously.

' _It can't be that simple. Is this guy an idiot? He could at least take advantage of the situation and ask for head. Or maybe I should just offer it.'_

"I'm off the clock and currently...underdressed," Naruto said and sat back letting the sheets pool further down.

The thief sucked in a breath when he took in the sight of the other man's abs and a very visible adonis belt before his eyes landed on the bulge that was coming alive at the apex of the man's thighs.

' _I'd give him my head on a silver platter so long as he fucked me. But he's an idiot, I need to make it perfectly clear I want him.'_

He turned around and pressed his body against the wall. He clasped his hands behind his back and in a deep sultry voice said, "I wouldn't mind you cuffing me."

"Not so fast," Naruto said in a serious tone and stood up.

The thief looked over his shoulder and couldn't help letting his eyes sweep over the naked body.

"First, I need to get a statement from you."

"No kidding?" the thief said highly amused.

' _Gad, he's an idiot. How much clearer can I be?'_

He mentally shook his head and snorted out loud. "Are you planning to write this statement on your balls?"

"This is not a laughing matter," Naruto said and cocked his head to the side. He pressed his gun to the thief's temple. "My name is Officer Naruto Uzumaki and you will address me as such. Now, I need you to state your name and for you to give me a brief account as to what you think you were doing."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, officer," he said softly and swallowed.

' _Fuck, he's hot.'_ He cleared his throat before he continued speaking.

"And as for what I was doing, well...I can't rightly say without a lawyer present."

"Hm, I see, Sasuke. Unfortunately for you, there was a witness who saw you breaking into this room. So, I'm going to have to perform a strip search," Naruto said and nudged Sasuke's waistband with his gun.

' _Today is my lucky day!'_

"Of course, officer," Sasuke said curtly. "Would you like me to turn arou—"

"Stay exactly where you are," Naruto said, his voice deepening and then he caressed Sasuke's ass with the gun.

' _Mmm, I'm going to fuck this ass raw.'_

"It's sort of a tight space," Sasuke said as he lifted his shirt over his head and threw it to the side. His breathing hitched when the gun reached in between his legs and caressed his balls.

"Really? Then I guess some preparation is in order," Naruto said close to Sasuke's ear.

Sasuke felt goosebumps through his arm and neck then he shivered. Naruto leaned forward, pressing his body against Sasuke's back and hooked his thumbs into the waistband of the tight jeans. Sasuke took his time unbuttoning his jeans wanting to prolong the moment as long as possible. He stood still while Naruto dragged the jeans all the way down. Sasuke couldn't help the goosebumps that extended over his back, his ass, and his thighs following the trail of Naruto's lips and tongue. Naruto took a step back and admired Sasuke's backside. He took the moment to shove his gun under the mattress before he stepped back up to Sasuke.

"You weren't wearing any underwear."

"Well, they say you should always leave your house prepared for whatever may come," Sasuke said in his deep baritone almost sounding bored. But his breath was labored and his body shivered in anticipation.

"They give good advice," Naruto said and slowly reached around Sasuke to caress his abs. 

' _His skin is almost as soft as girls. And those fucking hips. Fuck this guy is sexy.'_

Naruto's hand traveled up, skimming over a nipple, and then made it's way back down until he was palming Sasuke's already erect cock.

' _Definitely not a girl. I wouldn't even mind him fucking my brains out. Maybe next time.'_ Naruto leaned in and gave an open mouth kiss to Sasuke's neck.

"You're hard."

"I have to blame that on you, officer," Sasuke said, the last word coming out as a hiss because Naruto swiped his thumb over the cockhead.

Naruto pressed his own hard cock against Sasuke's backside. He continued pressing forward until it nestled between Sasuke's ass cheeks. Sasuke had his palms flat against the wall but his body was pushing back towards Naruto's warm hard body. Naruto rocked his hips and Sasuke groaned allowing his head to lean back against Naruto's shoulder. That left his neck exposed for Naruto who let his lips caress and nip against the soft flesh. Naruto didn't stop the slow rocking of his hips while he jerked Sasuke's cock. The sounds that Sasuke was emitting made Naruto want to keep this up, but he wouldn't let the foreplay last much longer. He craved the body before him too much and his cock needed to feel the pleasure the tight heat of Sasuke's asshole. With that thought in mind, Naruto reached up with his left hand to cup the back of Sasuke's neck while his other hand pressed against Sasuke's lower back. Without warning, Naruto shoved Sasuke forward against the wall and leaned into speak in Sasuke's ear.

"Don't move," Naruto commanded and stepped back to grab the handcuffs.

When Naruto returned, he grabbed Sasuke's hands and roughly brought them back to place the handcuffs on him.

"You have the right to remain silent but I would rather hear every sound you make."

"Fuck," Sasuke said through a breath. 

' _It's all I can do to not come just at the sound of that commanding voice.'_

"Don't struggle or you will rub your wrists raw," Naruto said in warning as he roughly pulled Sasuke off the wall and shoved him towards the bed. "Are we clear?"

"Yeah," Sasuke said and swallowed. His chest was pressed on the mattress but his knees were bent and his ass was up in the air.

"What was that?" Naruto said as he rummaged through a drawer.

"Yes, I understand, officer," Sasuke said though his voice was half muffled.

' _Jesus.'_

"Good," Naruto said and caressed the ass that was right before him. He grabbed hold of Sasuke from around his waist with one hand and with the other he pushed Sasuke's thighs further apart. "Since you're cuffed, you won't be able to defend yourself. I suggest you tell me your safeword because even though I like to be rough, I don't want to hurt you."

"I don't know...fuck," Sasuke said and squeezed his eyes shut to think. "Tomatoes."

"Did you say tomatoes?" Naruto said highly amused.

"Shut up," Sasuke said annoyed.

It wasn't his fault he couldn't think straight. He was cuffed, goddamit! And about to be fucked by a dirty, good looking, hard body, cop.

"Fuuuck."

"Alright, tomatoes it is," Naruto said and uncapped the lube bottle. "You sure you're going to remember that?"

"Yes, officer," Sasuke said through tight lips.

' _Probably not. But who gives a fuck!'_

"Now, now. No need to give me any attitude," Naruto said and wrapped a hand around Sasuke's body to start palming his erection once more. "I'm about to fuck you so hard, your first born will have wet dreams about it."

Sasuke snorted then moaned loudly when he felt Naruto's slick finger rub his anus.

"Sasuke, I don't want to wait any longer," Naruto said and pushed his finger through.

Sasuke hissed then groaned at the feel of Naruto's thick finger inside of him. It pushed in and slipped out at the same time that his slick hand jerked him off. Naruto swirled his finger around, stretching the hole before slipping a second finger inside roughly. Sasuke gasped and winced but he didn't complain. Naruto had already warned him that it was going to be rough. And it felt good. Sasuke moaned then bit down on the comforter when Naruto began to scissor his fingers. Naruto released Sasuke's cock and Sasuke couldn't help the whine that escaped his lips at the loss of contact. But Naruto didn't let him rest, he pulled his fingers out and slipped one back in. The finger probed and dragged over the sensitive flesh until it pushed against a sensitive spot that made Sasuke grunt and moan into the mattress.

"I think I've prepared you more than enough," Naruto said and pulled his finger out.

Sasuke heard the tear of a plastic wrap and then more lube being squirted out of the tube.

Naruto grabbed hold of Sasuke's hips then aligned his cock with Sasuke's puckered hole.

"I'm going to give it to you hard and rough. But I need you to relax, I don't want you to squeeze the life out of my cock."

Sasuke couldn't help but snort and then he took a deep breath and right as he released it, Naruto shoved his cock into him. Sasuke let out a shout and squeezed his eyes shut.

' _Fuck, he's thicker than I thought. I'm never been this full. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Breathe, dammit! I need to breathe.'_

"Breathe," Naruto said through gritted teeth. "Dammit! Relax." Naruto breathed through his nose.

' _Damn, he's squeezing the shit out of my cock!'_

Sasuke moaned and pushed his body back as his muscles relaxed their grip on Naruto's cock. His shoulders were feeling a little sore and his arms were starting to tingle but he didn't give a fuck. All he could concentrate on was Naruto's cock and the way it felt inside of him. And then all Sasuke could hear was the slap of skin and lewd noises. He wasn't sure if they were coming from him or not but he didn't care. He hadn't been fucked like this before. Even when his partner was rough, it was sloppy at best but Naruto, he knew exactly what he was doing and—

"Oh, god! Yeah...right there!" Sasuke said suddenly and Naruto grunted in response before he hit that spot again.

Naruto was holding his hips tight to keep him in place and Sasuke knew that if Naruto let go, he would flop onto the bed in a boneless heap. He moaned like a fucking slut but damn, Naruto was relentless. Naruto. Naruto.

"Naruto!"

"I'm not going to last much longer if you keep sounding so fucking sexy," Naruto said and reached for Sasuke's cock so that he could pump it.

Naruto's hips rocked faster and harder and Sasuke came with a shout. He shivered beneath Naruto's body but Naruto kept on pounding into him. Over and over. It was torture. Sweet fucking torture. Naruto wasn't ready to come just yet. He just needed to keep this up a little more. He grabbed Sasuke's hips with both hands in a firm grip and kept his merciless rhythm.

"Naruto...I ca-n't...pl-ease," Sasuke said through gasps.

' _Please, don't fucking stop! But, oh Jesus fuck, I don't think I can take much more of this!'_

Naruto didn't stop. He wasn't trying to keep hitting Sasuke's sweet spot but he was angled in such a manner that he couldn't help it.

"Naru-to."

Naruto felt Sasuke's body go slack just as he came with a final thrust and a loud, drawn out, moan. Naruto finally stopped and he pulled out of Sasuke, lying down beside him.

"Hey, Sasuke."

Sasuke's even breathing let Naruto know that the other male was in a deep sleep.

' _Damn, he was a good fuck! Sweet dreams, bastard.'_

Naruto chuckled and pulled off the condom. He tied the end and got up to throw it away. In passing, he grabbed the keys to the cuffs. Naruto uncuffed Sasuke and massaged his arms up to his shoulders before lifting Sasuke's body enough to move the blankets.

Once Sasuke was settled, he closed the window and drew the curtains. He contemplated taking a shower but decided against it. He was spent. He laid down beside Sasuke and after caressing the dark locks, he was out like a light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbc?


	2. Ask his sister

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was not where I was going to take this story originally. I had a completely different second chapter in mind. But then this happened. Hope none of you are disappointed. And obviously, there is more to come. And for those who were hoping for another sex scene, sorry but there isn't one in this chapter.

Sasuke sat on a park bench while he sipped a cup of coffee. He'd left the motel before Naruto woke up. Sasuke was a light sleeper, to begin with, and in the early morning, the trash pickup woke him. He was surprised that he'd slept so soundly especially with the officer's arms wrapped around his body. And was truthfully more surprised that the man hadn't woken with his movement. Regardless, he was glad not to have to speak to the other in the morning. He'd always hated the morning after awkward moments of having to try and let the other person down easy. Though he did want to see or feel should be the better word, that hot body once more. But he didn't have time to think about that now. He was busy watching a bank before office hours.

It was a small branch and the employees were not very attentive in the morning. Sasuke had watched the bank before and even realized the signal the women used as an all clear sign. They were very obvious about it. It would be so easy to take that branch. And even easier to find out who were the two who could open the safe. He knew the layout already since he managed to get in after hours with the cleaning company. It paid to work odd jobs every so often. He'd met a lot of people willing to help him out or that's what they'd believe they were doing. Sasuke simply needed an in beforehand. It was easier to case a joint from the inside than the outside. The more escape routes were known ahead of time, the easier it was to disappear without a trace. However, it seemed he wasn't the only one interested in this particular branch.

"Well, fuck," Sasuke said to himself when he noticed that the all-clear signal never went up. One of the employees still entered the branch not having noticed. And the next one, drove around the parking lot before she decided to leave. Her eyes met Sasuke's who'd stood up to make his leave from across the street. He didn't think anything of it before he too made his leave.

He'd sat on that particular branch a little too long it seemed since someone else beat him to the punch. Oh well. It was time to hit the gym, he could think of another score meanwhile. As he walked towards the road, a bus pulled up to the curb. It was as if he'd timed it perfectly. He got on the bus at the same time a black Tundra sped out of the branch parking lot. As the bus pulled up to the first intersection, the blaring of police sirens was heard. But Sasuke wasn't paying attention to any of that. It had nothing to do with him anyways.

He walked into the gym and passed the reception desk without signing in. He wasn't a member of the gym but the owner allowed him use of the facility and all the employees were aware of it. What he hadn't planned on was running into Kabuto on his way to the locker room. The other man usually stayed close to the owner and word had it that Orochimaru wasn't doing so well. Last Sasuke heard was that the older man was in the hospital awaiting some sort of transplant. Liver or kidney, Sasuke wasn't too sure and didn't rightly care.

"Sasuke," Kabuto said and seemed amused for whatever reason. "Didn't expect to see you this morning."

"Hn," Sasuke said noncommittally. He wasn't sure what was going through Kabuto's mind but he knew better than to let the other man rile him up. "I just came for a swim."

Sasuke looked at Kabuto for a moment longer before he began to walk away. He'd almost asked about Orochimaru but his curiosity on the matter wasn't strong enough to get him to ask.

Kabuto chuckled and looked at Sasuke from over his shoulder.

"They found a match," Kabuto said happily. "Orochimaru's surgery went well. He's in recovery as we speak. I'll let him know...you were worried."

Sasuke kept walking only pausing mid-step for a second or two. But he gritted his teeth when Kabuto chuckled again. Then he blew out a breath. None of it mattered anyway. He wasn't under the older man's thumb anymore, like he had been as a teen. Orochimaru was a dangerous man but Sasuke had won the older man's respect when he not only saved his life but covered up incriminating evidence against him. All Sasuke asked for in return was to sever ties. Never did Sasuke come to believe that Orochimaru would keep his word and allow Sasuke the freedom to do things on his own. Though Orochimaru liked to have Sasuke close to keep an eye on him. Allowing Sasuke use of his gym and making sure everyone who was under him watched Sasuke's back as if he were the older man's figurative son, were the perks of having earned Orochimaru's respect and by proxy Kabuto's. But Kabuto liked to tease Sasuke like a jealous sibling would. And that didn't sit well with Sasuke. These people were not his family, they were simply a means to an end. Though Sasuke wasn't sure what the end game was for him. He was still testing the waters so to speak before he figured out what he really wanted out of life. The criminal world suited him just fine for the time being and until he tired of it, he may decide to walk the straight and narrow path. He simply couldn't see himself doing so anytime soon.

Sasuke spent the next hour swimming laps. He always took it slow loving how rhythmic the feeling of swimming was. It was the only time he felt like he was alone. He felt weightless, not even his mind plagued him with thoughts as he moved through the water. But even if he would've spent more time swimming laps, nothing could've prepared him for what was waiting for him when he came out of the pool. A tactical police unit had the pool surrounded. When he was ordered to put his arms up, he did so slowly as he wondered, where in his speedo did they think he was hiding a piece? Yeah, they might be a longer length—almost to his knees—but they were skintight.

When one of the officers ordered his hands behind his back so that he could cuff him, Sasuke couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you going to frisk me?"

The officer tensed for a moment before he shoved at Sasuke to get him moving.

Sasuke had no idea what was going on but he was grateful that the captain allowed him to dress before they took him to the station. As they walked him through the gym, he noticed that it was empty. He frowned as he looked around. There were police searching through Kabuto's office and other's rummaging through the cabinets in the reception area. Hell, there had been others breaking open locker after locker in the locker room. When they made it to the parking lot, the only vehicle besides the ones that were owned by the police was a brand new black Tundra. If Sasuke had to guess, it was the same one that was involved in the bank robbery that morning. It didn't take a genius to know that Kabuto was trying to frame him. The real question was, why?

Sasuke sat in an interrogation room alone. He was cuffed to the table itself. A hook in the center of the table as his hands lay atop of it. He'd been there since he was brought to the police station. Though no one had told him why he was arrested nor was he being questioned. A young officer, a rookie from the looks of him, had brought him a glass of water but he didn't say a word to Sasuke. Not even after Sasuke asked why he was there. But before the boy shut the door, Sasuke asked for an attorney. He wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting there, but it felt like a couple of hours to him. He stayed calm and stared at the glass of water with narrow eyes. How the heck was he even supposed to drink it when his hands were cuffed to the table. It was safe for him to assume that the entire police department was composed of idiots.

When the door opened once more, Gaara walked in holding a file. Sasuke was certain that Gaara specialized in homicide. He furrowed his brow feeling completely confused. He thought he was being framed for the bank robbery, so how did homicide come into play?

"Do you know why you've been detained?" Gaara asked throwing the file on the table and taking a seat.

"I was not informed," Sasuke said and tilted his head to the side. "But I did tell the rookie that I wanted a lawyer."

"A public defender was called, we're just waiting for him to arrive," Gaara told him and opened the file. He pulled out two photos and pushed them in Sasuke's direction. "But I have a few questions I want to ask you. You don't have to answer until the lawyer arrives." Gaara looked at Sasuke who shrugged in response. "Do you know these people?"

Sasuke looked at the photos and then back to Gaara. He didn't say anything and Gaara didn't ask anything else. Sasuke knew who they were but didn't only in passing. It was a girl named Kin and a guy named Zaku. He'd seen them around the gym but never actually spoke to either of them. But the photos seemed to be taken after they were murdered since they both had a bullet in their heads.

"I don't make it a point to associate with the dead," Sasuke said simply. There was no inflection in his voice.

"Did you know them when they were alive?" Gaara asked but Sasuke didn't answer. Gaara waited a minute but when Sasuke didn't respond he decided to elaborate. But not before he raised his hand and made a come-hither motion to whoever was on the other side of the two-way mirror. "Her name is Kin Tsuchi. His name is Zaku Abumi. They were employees at a dealership off the turnpike. I'm sure you're familiar with it."

Sasuke didn't say anything. But he was familiar with it. He'd worked there for about a month recently.

The door opened again. This time Sasuke didn't recognize the officer that entered. But he wasn't wearing a uniform, he wore plain clothes so it seemed he too was a detective. Though he wore jeans instead of slacks like Gaara did, they were both wearing long sleeve dress shirts. The new officer's tie hung loosely around his neck as if he didn't like wear it but made the effort regardless. Sasuke wondered if he'd only made detective recently.

The officer took a seat beside Gaara and seemed to be waiting for Sasuke to say something to him. But after he assessed him, Sasuke turned to look at Gaara once more.

"If I'm not mistaken, you worked at that dealership up until about a month ago. I imagine you saw them at least in passing," Gaara said slowly.

"I worked in the parts department. The other employees I usually interacted with were service technicians and at times, a customer or two."

Sasuke didn't say anything else.

"Kin was a cashier and Zaku worked the showroom."

Sasuke didn't even blink at that.

"They were killed last night," Gaara said and pulled another photo out of the file. He pushed it towards Sasuke, laying it on the other two photos. "The manager found them and then came to realize that this was stolen from the lot. Do you recognize the vehicle?"

"I'm not a car enthusiast but even I know that it's a Tundra."

"The very same Tundra that was used as a getaway vehicle in a bank robbery this morning," the other detective said angrily.

Sasuke realized right then that this new officer probably specialized in robbery.

"And you are?" Sasuke said.

The officer blinked a couple of times. It was true that he hadn't introduced himself but neither had Gaara. He looked at Gaara who nodded in his direction.

"Detective Kiba Inuzuka," the man said then added, "robbery."

"Hn."

"We know you're lying," Kiba said and crossed his arms over his chest.

"About what?" Sasuke said looking at the man wondering what he'd said that was a lie. He'd been completely truthful up to that point.

"About knowing that girl," Kiba said and moved the Tundra picture aside so that he could point at Kin.

Sasuke remained silent. The fact that this officer was an idiot crossed his mind. Because Sasuke never said he didn't know her. But he also didn't say he did.

"We have video footage of the two of you talking," Kiba said and Gaara looked at him as if the same thing that had crossed Sasuke's mind just moments earlier had crossed his mind as well.

"You must not talk to a lot of girls," Sasuke said simply.

Kiba sputtered. "What the heck are you trying to say? Are you some sort of ladies man or something?"

"I've been accused of that before. Just ask his sister," Sasuke said in the same monotone he'd been using since Gaara walked into the room.

Kiba gaped at him before he looked at Gaara who was staring at Sasuke intently.

The door opened once more. This time the person who was standing in the doorway took Sasuke by surprise. He hadn't expected to see his brother at all during the entire questioning. He was dressed immaculately in a pristine suit. Sasuke wondered if he'd come directly to the police station from an arraignment.

"I was told the suspect you apprehended had asked for a lawyer," Itachi said in a low voice.

"The lawyer is taking his time. But I made sure to let the suspect know he didn't have to answer any questions until the lawyer arrived. Everything he's said so far has been voluntary," Gaara said without taking his eyes off of Sasuke.

"Which hasn't been much," Kiba said in annoyance.

"Do you have any charges based on evidence or is his detention simply based on reasonable doubt?"

"We have plenty of evidence that connects him to both the robbery and the murders!" Kiba said slamming his hand on the table.

"Then why is he in the interrogation room instead of being processed for those crimes?" Itachi asked as he walked into the room. The door closing on its own behind him. "Have you even asked him where he was when the crimes were being committed?"

Gaara looked over at Itachi and then back at Sasuke.

"Where were you between the hours of eleven o'clock last night and eight thirty this morning?"

Sasuke looked at his brother who nodded then he looked at Gaara.

"At the Whirlwind Motel till about seven this morning. From there I went to a coffee shop and then a park where I drank my coffee and lastly, I hopped on a bus."

"Is there anyone who could attest to your claims?"

Sasuke shrugged and Itachi sighed.

"Not even the receptionist when you checked in?" Kiba asked with a slight frown. He didn't believe that Sasuke was really there but he wondered why he would give the name to that particular hotel.

"I didn't check in."

"Why were you at the motel?" Gaara said after writing down what Sasuke had claimed.

"I was there to see a guy about a guitar," Sasuke said.

"A guitar?" Kiba said skeptically. "Why a guitar?"

"Because he was selling it."

"And it took you until seven in the morning to look at it?" Kiba said and scoffed.

"No."

"What was his name?" Gaara asked to get back on track.

"I wouldn't know."

"Well, why not?" Kiba said becoming more irritated with Sasuke's vague answers.

"I didn't ask his name."

"Why did you meet at the motel?" Gaara asked patiently.

"He asked to meet there."

"You just went to some seedy motel to meet a guy you don't know about some guitar?"

"Yes."

"How did you even know he was there with a guitar?"

"He told me."

"How?! You said you didn't even know his name. How did you even know about him and the guitar? How did you contact him?"

"He placed an ad. I answered it. He wanted to meet at the motel."

Itachi was inspecting his nails during the questioning. He knew his brother was telling the truth but he also knew that he was being vague just to get under the detective's skin. Itachi sighed once more. He had better things to do with his time than watch his little brother fuck around with a couple of detectives over bogus claims.

"What site?" Gaara asked readying his pen to write down the answer.

"Deal exchange," Sasuke said.

"Do you remember the person's username or can you forward a copy of the email exchange to us?"

"No," Sasuke said then added, "I didn't use an email. I answered the ad through an app."

"Where's your cell phone?" Gaara asked knowing that you didn't need an email to answer the ads on that app.

"I don't have one."

"Oh, come on!" Kiba said frustrated. "Stop giving us the runaround!"

"Who's phone did you use?"

"A customer's."

"What was the customer's name?"

"I wouldn't know."

"Yeah, sure. Cause you didn't ask, right?" Kiba said and stood up. He held onto the back of the chair, white-knuckled.

"Yes."

"Give me a break," Kiba said and threw his hands in the air. "What kind of person just allows someone else to use their phone to contact some stranger online?"

"A drunk one," Sasuke said and the corner of his lip rose a little.

Gaara noticed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Kiba, calm down or get out."

"Fine!" he said and sat back down with a huff.

"Alright, so you met him at the motel. What room was he in?" Gaara said slowly.

"I doubt he had one."

"Then where did you talk to him, by the dumpster?" Kiba said looking away annoyed.

"Actually," Sasuke said but before he could say anything else, he was cut off by a sound coming from Kiba. A cough or laugh, maybe.

"The dumpster?" Kiba said and laughed. "Sounds more like he was selling you drugs. Do you even play the guitar? Are you sure you want to stick to the guitar story?"

At that, Itachi looked up and stared at his brother.

"Vintage 1959 Les Paul. Custom. Original case. Great sound. Cheap," Sasuke recounted the ad word for word looking right at Kiba. "I do play the guitar. Just ask his sister."

"Sasuke," Itachi said in reprimand. Itachi hadn't been there the first time Sasuke said that but he knew it was a jibe at Gaara. He wasn't sure how Sasuke knew that Gaara had a sister, but he didn't like what Sasuke was implying.

Sasuke simply looked at Itachi with a raised eyebrow. Itachi scowled at him but other than that didn't say anything else.

"Dude, does this guy really know your sister?" Kiba said in a stage whisper but Gaara didn't dignify the question with a response.

"I'll look up the ad to find the person in question," Gaara said and took down a few more notes.

"Or you can check his car for his registration," Sasuke said with a shrug. "His car is still at the motel. His keys were in my pockets. You have my personal effects, I assume?"

Gaara nodded and made a gesture to the two-way mirror.

"Though I doubt the guy is home. He might be at Stage's Rehabilitation Center."

"Why do you think he'd be there?" Gaara asked. That was the rehabilitation center his sister volunteered at on the weekends.

"Just a hunch."

"Why do you have his car keys?" Kiba asked not liking that Sasuke had some strangers keys.

"He was desperate for a fix," Sasuke answered. "When I didn't buy his guitar, he left in a hurry forgetting about his car."

"Why didn't you buy the guitar?"

"I didn't have any cash," Sasuke said as if it had been a given the entire time.

Itachi stared at his brother having guessed what had happened. He couldn't help but feel proud of his little brother for helping another person.

Kiba huffed again. "So what, did you sleep in the guy's car? Why the hell did you stay at the motel until seven in the morning without a room?"

"Because I hooked up with someone there."

"Does this person have a name?" Kiba asked in annoyance.

"Yes," Sasuke said and didn't add anything else.

"Do you plan on sharing it with us?"

"No."

This time it was Gaara who sighed.

"Do you have any proof of this hook-up?" Kiba said looking at Sasuke as if he was making up some other tale just to give them the runaround.

"Sure," Sasuke said and didn't elaborate further.

"Well, where is it?" Kiba said with annoyance.

"On my body. But I can't exactly undress now, can I?" Sasuke said gesturing to the cuffs keeping his hands locked in place. "Then again, you can ask the tactical unit that arrested me. The officer who placed the cuffs on me can provide you with every detail."

Gaara made a gesture to the two way mirror once more.

"What makes you think that?" Kiba said skeptically.

"I felt his eyes lingering on certain areas of my bare skin and what wasn't bare," Sasuke said slowly. Kiba frowned. "It happens. Just ask his sister."

Kiba coughed trying to hide a laugh and covered his mouth. Gaara looked at Kiba in annoyance and decided to change the line of questioning. He'd get back to the person Sasuke had hooked up with later in the questioning.

"You said you left the motel at seven this morning, did anyone see you leave?"

"Yes," Sasuke said looking at Gaara.

"Well, tells us who," Kiba said and popped his knuckles. "Come on, the faster you answer the questions the sooner you can leave."

"I don't know their names," Sasuke said and Kiba groaned. "But I can tell you that one person was the trash collector and the other was a housekeeper."

"The trash collector?" Kiba said and looked at Sasuke with a tilt of his head. "You have a fetish with dumpsters or something?"

Sasuke didn't respond, he simply stared at Kiba until he blushed when he realized what he'd said.

"It just sounded sketchy, man," Kiba said trying to salvage something of his pride.

"Why did you mention the trash collector?" Gaara said and turned the page on his notepad.

"We had a chat after I moved the car that was blocking the dumpster," Sasuke said.

"The guitar guy's car?" Kiba said and scratched his head.

"Yes," Sasuke said and looked at him. He wanted to add that he was surprised that the idiot would remember that detail but held his tongue.

"So that's why you had his keys," Kiba said and nodded as if he'd solved some puzzle in his head.

"Hn."

"And the housekeeper?" Gaara said bringing back the line of questioning to the matter at hand. "Can you give us a description?"

"Female," Sasuke said and shrugged.

"What the fuck?!" Kiba exclaimed outraged. "That's all you remember about her?

"I don't make it a point to remember every detail of every person I encounter," Sasuke said with a shrug. "But I know for a fact she'd remember me."

"How?"

"I'm memorable," Sasuke said and his eyes darted to Gaara for a split second before he added, "Just ask his sister."

Just then a loud thump was heard from the other side of the two-way mirror.

"I see your brother is still just as rowdy as ever," Sasuke said looking at Gaara.

"Hmm," Gaara hummed as he looked over at the mirror for a moment before he looked at Sasuke once more.

"Wait, wait, wait," Kiba said waving his hands in front of his face. "How the hell do you know Gaara and his siblings?"

Sasuke looked at Gaara who's jaw tensed.

"It's not my story to tell," Sasuke said and Gaara let out a breath through his nose. "Just ask—"

"I know, I know, his  _sister_ ," Kiba said in exasperation.

"I was going to say, ask him why he specializes in homicide," Sasuke said hiding his amusement and Gaara's eyes narrowed to slits.

Kiba opened his mouth to ask but the glare Gaara sent his way stopped him from talking.

"It's not your business," Gaara said in a low tone.

"Alright, alright, don't get your panties in a twist, man."

"You said you went to the coffee shop from there, but why would you drink your coffee at a park that was clear across town?" Gaara asked after looking at his notes.

The park Sasuke had mentioned was across the street from the branch that had been robbed. It didn't make any sense to Gaara. Other than Sasuke being in on the robbery. And he needed Sasuke to say something that incriminated him since they had no viable proof that he was connected to either crime. It was all circumstantial evidence at best.

"Like I said before, I didn't have any money. I went to the coffee shop that my aunt owns for coffee and senbei since she never makes me pay."

Itachi smiled softly at that.

"If you didn't have any money, how did you get there?" Kiba asked.

"I have a bus pass. I had it on me when I was brought here."

"And the park you went to, why did you choose that particular one?" Gaara asked.

"It's around the corner from my aunt's shop and the bus stop off of Main Street is the line that takes me directly to the gym where I was apprehended."

"The gym where the getaway vehicle was dumped," Kiba added.

Sasuke didn't say anything else. He knew that was true. And still had no idea nor had any time to find out why Kabuto would try to frame him.

"Were his prints on the vehicle?" Itachi asked.

"No," Kiba said in annoyance.

"What about the bank?"

"No."

"You can't charge him for a robbery simply because he was in the same place where the vehicle was dumped," Itachi said and inspected his nails again. "Not to mention, you still don't have any evidence or proof that he was at the dealership at the time the murder took place."

"He still doesn't have an alibi for the time in question," Kiba said looking right at Itachi.

But before Itachi could say anything else, a thin man wearing his hair up in a high ponytail walked in looking bored and annoyed.

"And finally, the public defender walks in," Itachi said looking at his watch.

"Troublesome," the lawyer said looking at Itachi then at Sasuke. He made his way over to the table and sat beside Sasuke. "I'm Shikamaru Nara, I'm representing you."

"Hn."

Shikamaru looked over a file he had in his hands. "You don't have enough to hold my client in custody. Remove his handcuffs."

"Not until he can prove where he was at one in the morning," Kiba said and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Were you with someone at that time?" Shikamaru asked and looked at his client almost pleadingly.

"Yes."

Kiba groaned when Sasuke didn't elaborate.

"If you don't give them a name, they can lock you up for forty-eight hours," Shikamaru said and waited.

Sasuke looked down for a moment and heard his brother sigh. He didn't have a choice. He had to give up that name. He just wasn't sure if he was outing the man or not. And he was hoping the backlash of having been with him wouldn't get the officer stripped of his police powers. Sasuke sighed and then looked up. He looked at Kiba then at Gaara.

"Officer Naruto Uzumaki."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reviews are welcome. Also, if you'd like to gift me a coffee, check my profile for detail.


	3. Oh shit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, thank you for all the reviews! I'm so happy y'all enjoyed the last chapter. Sorry that I haven't had time to respond but I did read them all. :) This chapter turned out differently from how I envisioned it but it gives a lot more information. We're out of the interrogation room for a moment, I'll come back to that in the next chapter. Brace yourselves… (I cringe and hide)

Naruto woke to the pounding on his door. He groaned and rubbed his face before he went to open it. When he made it to the door, he realized his state of undress and shouted to the person on the other side to hold on a minute. He went to the bathroom and grabbed his last clean pair of boxers and put them on. Then he went back to the door and opened it.

"You're so late!" his partner shouted in his face teasingly.

"What?" Naruto said confusedly. He grabbed his uniforms that his partner handed to him then looked over at his alarm clock. However, it wasn't on his nightstand. "What time is it?"

He looked at his partner in annoyance. He didn't know who he'd pissed off at the station for his sergeant to assign this idiot as his partner. Naruto had worked with other guys who were full of themselves before but Zaji took the cake. He wasn't a rookie but seemed to be a novice in everything he did. He was impulsive and made plenty of mistakes. Then he blamed everything on Naruto. His current predicament with his uniform had Zaji's name written all over it.

"I don't know, around nine or something," Zaji said with a shrug and scratched the back of his head. "Hurry up, I covered for you at shift start but we need to head out soon. There was a bank robbery this morning."

"Of course you covered for me asshole!" Naruto said angrily. "Because of you, I didn't have a uniform! Was I supposed to show up to work in my underwear?!"

"Calm your tits," Zaji said with a smirk and headed back outside.

Naruto hung his uniforms in the closet and went into the bathroom to shower. Once he was dressed, he walked outside where his partner was waiting for him leaning over the squad car.

"Why are you here so late, anyway? You said the dry cleaners were open on the weekend. Why didn't you bring my uniforms over before shift?" Naruto said grumpily as he unlocked the doors and went into the squad car.

"Like I said, there was a lot happening this morning. I didn't get a chance to break away until now," Zaji told him.

"In other words, you forgot about the dry cleaners until after you arrived at the station and the sergeant ask about me," Naruto said grumpily. "What'd you tell the sergeant anyway?"

"I don't remember," Zaji said with a shrug. "I hadn't had my coffee yet."

Zaji punctuated the statement with a yawn. Naruto had half a mind to choke him out. No one would blame him for killing his own partner, right? It'd be a crime of passion or something. The jury would know he acted on rage, not malice. He wouldn't have to spend too much time behind bars. It'd be worth it.

"Hey, you're going to break the steering wheel if you keep tightening your hands on it like that," Zaji said and when he saw the murderous look Naruto sent his way, he swallowed hard. "Come on, lighten up. You know the sarge has a soft spot for you. Let's head to the station. But we'll get breakfast on the way. On me."

"Fine," Naruto said with a resigned sigh and backed out of the parking space.

Naruto knew exactly where to go. He was starving now that he thought about it. Then he idly wondered what happened to Sasuke. He'd wished the other man sweet dreams but he was the one who'd gotten a good night's rest. Too good. He couldn't believe he didn't wake up until his idiot partner showed up.

"You're buying lunch and dinner too, asshole!" Naruto said suddenly. His mood suddenly spiking to anger at his partner again.

"Come on!" Zaji said raising his hands up and then huffing. He knew that the only way to get on Naruto's good side again was through food but he wasn't exactly rolling in dough and Naruto had a huge appetite. "I'll front the bill at lunch. But I can't afford to get you dinner too. I still have to take my girl out to celebrate. She's taking her exam this Friday."

"For a cosmetology exam she's already failed twice," Naruto said looking at his partner skeptically. "I wouldn't get my hopes up for this next one either."

Zaji groaned. "If she fails again, I'm breaking it off with her. I won't be able to take another sobfest."

"Jeez, you're a real douche, you know that?" Naruto said and turned on the radio.

He didn't care to talk to his partner anymore. As a matter of fact, the idiot was making him lose his appetite. He closed his eyes and breathed when he arrived at an intersection. He thought about all the good things in his life. The otherworldly sex he'd had the night before came to mind and he smiled. Yup, his appetite was back and in full force. He was buying two burritos this morning. Zaji was paying anyway. The thought of that made his smile turn into a full force grin.

When Naruto walked into the station, a huge smile on his face, his stomach full, he went straight up to his sergeant who looked at him with a furrowed brow and opened his mouth to shout at him. But Naruto didn't give him a chance to say anything. He popped a burrito in his mouth.

"You're welcome, Sarge!" Naruto said cheerily.

Iruka blinked, took hold of the burrito and bite down. He smiled as he chewed. It was his favorite and from his favorite stand too. He couldn't even remember what he was mad at Naruto for.

"Hey… Hey, back out there you two!" Iruka said after he swallowed. "We still haven't found anyone connected to Sound. They can't stay in hiding. Not now when their leader just passed away."

"Wait," Naruto said confusedly. "What'd you say?"

"Orochimaru died about ten minutes ago after a successful liver transplant. It seems his body rejected the new organ," Iruka said absentmindedly as he looked over a report then he looked up at Naruto with a puzzled look on his face. "Sound is wanted in connection with a robbery and homicide. How do you not know this already?"

Naruto frowned and looked at his partner. Zaji just stood there with a smile on his face. He hadn't heard a word Iruka had said. Why the hell was this idiot his partner?

"Sorry, Sarge," Naruto said sheepishly.

Iruka sighed and looked at Zaji. He didn't know what to do with the guy. He hoped that partnering him up with Naruto would get him to shape up. Naruto was one of the best and he had a knack for bringing the best out of anyone. But Zaji...he was this close to becoming a meter maid.

"I'll have Konohamaru send the bolos to your tablet. But I need you to patrol north of the train station," Iruka said and pulled out a map showing Naruto the specific areas he wanted him to scour. "We don't think they'll try to skip town. Not yet. But we can't be too careful."

"Alright," Naruto said and turned to leave grabbing hold of Zaji's arm, pulling him with him.

"Hey! What gives?!"

"You're going to tell me everything you know starting from roll call," Naruto said upset as he dragged his partner to the squad car.

As they were pulling out of the parking lot of the police station, the tactical unit arrived.

"Hey, I think they have a suspect in custody," Zaji said looking back.

"Unless dispatch tells us differently, we have bolos at the top of our list. We don't need to know who they have in custody or why. That's the job of the detectives. They do their jobs and we do ours. Now, tell me what's happened since the start of shift. And don't leave a single detail out," Naruto ordered.

Zaji nodded nervously. He hated it when Naruto took on that commanding tone. Naruto made him feel like a kid and he was almost four years older than his partner. But Naruto was a decorated officer and Zaji had a lot to learn from him. He couldn't believe it when he was partnered up with  _the_  Naruto Uzumaki. And he did like to work with the guy. Every day was different. And it was never boring. Even when it got dangerous, Zaji was always one hundred percent certain that Naruto had his back. He just wished that Naruto felt the same about him. He really needed to step up his game. No more spacing out or Naruto would really kill him.

Zaji had told Naruto everything he knew about the robbery and the homicide. It wasn't much just basic information. But the cops on beat didn't need to know everything that was going on, that was the detectives' job. They simply needed the run through so that they knew who they were looking for.

So Zaji told him that the alarms weren't triggered at the dealership and the cameras had been down when everything happened. It was something similar to the bank robbery. The only video they had from the night of the incident at the dealership was from a convenience store camera from across the street. There were two suspects in the Tundra that was stolen. From the surveillance video they picked up from a pod across the street from the bank, there were four suspects who were involved in the robbery. One was the getaway driver and the three others had entered the branch. Though the images were fuzzy, one of the suspects that stole the truck had also been part of the robbery crew. They all wore gloves and pants and jackets with long sleeves. They had their faces covered with plain white masks that had openings for the eyes. The only uncovered skin was their necks.

One of the bank employees mentioned a tattoo that she saw on two of the suspects. It was an identifying tattoo of anyone who was part of Sound. It was on the shoulder but close to the base of the neck. Each members' tattoo was different, but they were all black solid shapes. Some consisted of a single image in the shape of an open circle and others of three identical images that formed a circle.

It looked similar to the tattoo Naruto had seen on Sasuke's neck. He almost kicked himself for not having made the connection before. He knew about the Sound tattoo's and their members. They had been connected to various crimes. Many of them in jail or deceased. The only person that intelligence didn't have anything on was Orochimaru. Anything that tied him to any crime disappeared. His right hand man didn't have a tattoo though. So it took a long time for intelligence to make the connection between the two. It wasn't until Orochimaru walked that the two were seen together. Kabuto was definitely a behind the scenes type of criminal. It didn't even seem like he'd actually been involved in anything. But he was definitely on the watch list. Naruto almost blew out a breath of relief when Zaji came to the last bolo and Sasuke wasn't one of them.

"Squad 012."

"Go ahead," Naruto said to the dispatcher.

"We have a vandalism in progress. 400 block. Sunbeam Street. Are you in the area?"

"Affirmative."

"Be advised, three juveniles."

"Copy that."

Naruto parked the car and decided to go on foot. Zaji followed informing dispatched that they were on the scene. It didn't take long before Naruto saw three kids tagging a building in an alley. He thought it was suspicious. Why would someone call emergencies services for something inane? He told Zaji to hang back and try to find out from the dispatcher who'd called in to report the kids.

Naruto walked up quietly on the kids. They were joking around and laughing so they didn't hear him approach. Naruto kept his eyes on the buildings around him. He looked up to the rooftops and paid close attention to the windows. He didn't see anything suspicious. But he knew there was nothing wrong with being too careful. He stood back watching the kids for a minute and raised four fingers to his partner who looked on nervously from the end of the alley. Zanji smiled and raised four fingers. Dispatch hadn't said anything that raised any red flags and he hadn't seen anyone in the vicinity. He gave Naruto the all clear.

"Aren't you three supposed to be in school?" Naruto said in a stern voice.

All three kids tensed and turned around slowly. One of them, the leader of their little pack, recognized Naruto right away.

"Hey, you're Naruto!"

"That's Officer Uzumaki to you, squirt," Naruto said with a small smile. But then he noticed someone from the corner of his eye. He wasn't too sure but it looked like Kabuto. He bent over to be closer to the kids. "Do me a favor, I need you three to run to my partner over there at the end of the alley. Can you do that?"

They all nodded nervously. And looked towards the end of the alley where Zaji not knowing what was going on, waved to the kids.

"On the count of three go fast and don't look back, okay?"

They all nodded again.

"Alright," Naruto said and lifted a hand and softly counted to three.

As soon as the kids ran off, Naruto ran in the opposite direction where he'd seen Kanuto. He contacted dispatch and spoke in a low tone. He mentioned that he was pursuing a person of interest and asked for backup. He rounded corner after corner with his gun drawn. But all he saw was a glimpse of Kabuto and his shadow. After crossing a street, he finally caught up with the man.

"It's funny," Kabuto said with his back to Naruto and his hands in the air. "I didn't expect  _you_  to show up."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked not understanding what Kabuto was referring to.

"You forged your own fate. Made a name for yourself when you came from nothing," Kabuto said and slowly lowered his hands while he turned to face Naruto. "I was like you, you know?"

Naruto tilted his head to the side when he saw Kabuto smile. But there was something off with the man's stare.

"Are you...feeling alright?"

"No. Not really. I was going to turn myself in and take the blame for what those idiots did last night and this morning," Kabuto said and sighed. "With Orochimaru in surgery, they went off on their own. I was never much of a leader so they didn't listen to reason."

"Alright," Naruto said slowly. "Then who was it? Who was involved?"

Kabuto laughed.

"Just because I don't approve what they did doesn't mean I'm a snitch," Kabuto said and shrugged. "Seeing you, it makes me want to do what you did."

"What I did? What do you mean?"

Naruto didn't truly follow what Kabuto was saying but he was hoping to keep the man talking in order to buy time for backup to arrive. Zaji was busy taking care of the kids. And Naruto hoped that backup arrived soon. Because there was one thing he did know, Kabuto had wanted to be found. If he went back into hiding, there would be no way to find him or the others.

"When I found out Orochimaru died, it was like I lost who I was. He was my anchor. But now, it's almost like fate. If someone like you can stand up on his is own two feet, what's stopping me from doing the same?"

"Kabuto...don't do it, man. Just take it easy. No one needs to get hurt," Naruto said slowly and raising one hand up as a show of faith at the same time that Kabuto was reaching into his pocket.

"It's just my phone, Naruto. I'm sure it will come in handy," Kabuto said and pulled it out slowly.

But then the sound of sirens blaring distracted Naruto. When he turned towards the sound of a car racing past the alley they were in, Kabuto tossed the phone in his direction and took off.

"Fuck!" Naruto shouted when the phone smacked him in the head and all he saw of Kabuto was a shadow. He picked up the phone and stuffed it in his back pocket while he ran in the direction Kabuto went in.

"Dispatch. This is 607. I'm in pursuit of Kabuto Yakushi. He's heading north through an alleyway between Second Street and Monroe. He's wearing dark pants and a purple shirt."

"Copy that 607," dispatch responded. "All units…"

Naruto didn't listen to the rest. He was running while taking in all surroundings. It didn't take long for him to realize that he'd lost Kabuto. But he wasn't going to give up until the entire area was had been searched.

"Fuck!"

Naruto stared at the ground as he walked back to where his partner was waiting some time later. Officers had spread out in the area but Kabuto was in the wind. Naruto felt like an idiot. He let Kabuto get away during a rookie move. And he'd been talking shit about Zaji in his head all morning. He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. When he finally paid attention to where he was going, he realized he'd stepped onto the road without checking for oncoming traffic. He heard a horn honk and turned in time to see a rollback truck barreling towards him.

"Oh shit," Naruto said feeling as if time had slowed for a moment.

He forced his body to move. He dove back towards the sidewalk but the truck clipped his leg, spinning his body making him bounce off the side of the truck and into the windshield of a car that had tried to pass up the truck on the right.

Naruto's unconscious body rolled to a stop. The driver of the car stopped in the middle of the road at a screeching halt. It was a man. He pulled on his hair frantically unsure of what to do. Two bystanders ran up to Naruto's body. The first one assessed him to see if he was still alive.

"Call for an ambulance! He's alive!"

"Oh, god! He's alive?" the driver said and he dropped to his knees when relief flooded through him. "I didn't even see him."

"We need an ambulance. An officer was just hit. He's unconscious and badly injured but he's alive," the bystander said over the phone speaking to emergency services. "Uh, Second Street. Hey, you, what's the address here?"

The driver checked the address on the building next to them and relayed the information. It didn't take long for a squad car to pull up. One of the police officers jumped out and recognized the officer who'd been run over. He was on his radio and letting dispatch know which officer was down. The driver, upon hearing the name of the officer he'd collided with, gasped and covered his mouth with his hand. Everyone and their grandmother knew who Naruto Uzumaki was. This couldn't be happening to him. Why did it have to be him who ran over a fucking hero?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reviews are highly appreciated. Also, if you'd like to gift me a coffee, check my profile for details.


	4. Back to that are we?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to the interrogation room we go.

Kiba and Gaara looked at one another. Kiba was livid and was working his jaw. Gaara was just as angry but kept it hidden. Suddenly, Kiba slammed his hand on the table and glared at Sasuke.

"Are you saying it wasn't an accident?!"

"Kiba," Itachi said making the younger man turn to look at him with a fierce glare.

"I don't give a damn that he's your brother! He's a fucking criminal!" Kiba shouted while standing up. His chair being thrown back in the process.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered. Sasuke looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. Shikamaru nodded at him and turned to look at Gaara. "Is there something we're missing here? It doesn't sound like you've given us all the facts."

"The facts?! You want the facts?!"

"Enough!" Itachi said and took hold of Kiba's arm before the detective moved any closer to the lawyer.

Kiba made a move to get out of the grasp but Itachi tightened his hold on the detective. Kiba's entire body went slack and he looked down.

"But, Sarge… He mentioned Naruto..."

"Take a walk," Itachi said in a softer tone but it was clear that it was an order.

Kiba shook his head not wanting to leave but he had to listen to his sergeant.

' _Dammit!'_ Kiba took a deep breath and looked up.

Itachi stared at him for a moment.

"I'll take my meal break," Kiba said with a slight pout and Itachi released him.

Kiba walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Itachi picked up the seat that Kiba had occupied previously and sat down. He looked at Gaara who nodded and turned to look at Sasuke.

"How long have you known Officer Uzumaki?" Gaara asked but his tone was no longer what you could call friendly if it ever was.

"Hold on a minute, what aren't you telling us?" Shikamaru said placing a hand on Sasuke's arm to keep him from talking.

He didn't like the reaction of the detectives when his client gave the name of his alibi. Sure, it was a decorated officer. But what did that matter? The man wasn't on call twenty-four seven. He looked over his notes when Gaara didn't answer. What he saw were that the implications of Sasuke being with the Officer in question was…problematic.

Shikamaru sighed. It shouldn't matter if they had been together sexually. Both parties were adults. However, the detective's reaction still didn't add up. This time Shikamaru looked at Itachi.

Itachi was looking at his brother but when he saw the lawyer direct his gaze at him, he decided to answer.

"It's impossible for us to verify his alibi," Itachi said slowly gauging his brother's reaction. "Officer Uzumaki is currently in the ICU."

Shikamaru frowned and looked at Sasuke who shrugged. He had no clue what had happened to the man since he last saw him asleep in bed.

"What was Detective Inuzuka implying when he said it wasn't an accident?"

"We'll tell you more after your client answers our questions," Gaara said looking at Shikamaru then at Sasuke. "How long have you known Officer Uzumaki?"

Sasuke didn't like to be in the dark about what was happening. Though he inferred why he was there with the limited information he'd been given up to this point, he couldn't imagine a scenario where he could be implicated in Naruto's current predicament. He understood why they would connect him to the robbery, he was suspiciously in the vicinity and managed to be in the exact same spot that the getaway vehicle was abandoned. But the homicide and theft at the dealership was a stretch. And now this, he'd been detained since a little after ten, there was no possibility that he could be connected to whatever happened to Naruto. But if anything, he could be used as a scapegoat. His finger twitched when he felt the impulse to touch his tattoo.

Sound. Everything that was happening involved Sound. He was sure of it.

Itachi raised his eyebrow at his brother when he noticed the slight movement of his fingers. It appeared to be a nervous reaction. He refrained from offering any comfort no matter how much he wanted to do so. He didn't believe that Sasuke had anything to do with the robbery or the homicide. But in light of what had happened to Naruto when he was in pursuit of Kabuto, he couldn't help think that Sound was trying to frame him. And it seemed that his brother had drawn the same conclusion.

"I can't say that I know him," Sasuke said and looked at his brother. "I just met him last night."

"Help us understand this," Gaara said looking right at Sasuke. "You didn't know the names of any of the others you interacted with last night or this morning. And from what you said, it seems to be the norm with you. So how is it that having met the officer for the first time last night that you know his full name?"

"Because he introduced himself to me as Officer Naruto Uzumaki," Sasuke said with a shrug. "I never asked him his name."

Though it did sound like something Naruto would do, Gaara needed more information. He needed to know the connection between them and whether or not Sasuke may have tricked Naruto in some way to get him into the situation he'd gotten himself into that morning.

Naruto was with Sasuke last night, was late to work the very next morning—something that he never did—and to top it off, walked right into oncoming traffic. None of it made sense and Naruto had been so off his game it landed him in hospital. Had Naruto been drugged?

"You didn't ask his name, yet he introduced himself and invited you into his room?" Gaara said with a raised eyebrow.

"Something like that," Sasuke said and didn't break eye contact.

Itachi refrained from sighing. His brother was doing it again and now was not the time to be giving them the runaround. He turned to look at Gaara. He needed to ask questions that would make his brother give more information but then again, he looked at his brother, he knew it was best for Sasuke to be vague.

Shikamaru didn't like what was happening but he was aware that Sasuke hadn't said anything to incriminate himself, yet. And everything that was said before he arrived, Kankuro had made sure to supply to him with detailed notes so he knew his client was still in the clear. And he had to keep it that way.

"Gentlemen, if you don't mind, I'd like to speak to my client in private," Shikamaru said calmly while still writing a few things down.

Itachi made to stand up but Gaara stopped him.

"We could use the time to verify what he's said so far. However, if you don't mind, given the delicate situation Officer Uzumaki is in, I'd like to know more about what the officer was doing last night and this morning. Your client seems to be the only one who can tell us more about that. And it's not related to the robbery or homicide of which we suspected his involvement."

Shikamaru let out a long drawn out sigh. He turned to look at Sasuke. "It's up to you."

"Whatever."

"Thank you," Gaara said sincerely. "I'd like to know more about your interaction with the officer. You said he introduced himself to you, how did that come about?"

"I asked him if he was going to call the police," Sasuke said and Shikamaru groaned. "That was when he pulled out his badge saying there was one already there and introduced himself with his full name."

"Why would you think he'd have the need to call the police?"

"It was said in jest," Sasuke said and shrugged. It wasn't a lie. And there was no way he was going to admit that he broke into the man's room or that the officer had pulled a gun on him.

"In jest?" Gaara said skeptically.

"Yes. I've been known to jest. Just ask…"

"Sasuke," Itachi interjected but Sasuke ignored him.

"...your sister."

Itachi covered his face with his hand. But it was Shikamaru that stared at Sasuke mouth agape.

"I think it's wise to inform you that my sister is married," Gaara said slowly with a hint of amusement.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him and followed his gaze to Shikamaru who was now frowning at him.

Itachi sat back and though still feeling irate with his brother for trying to bait Gaara like that, he couldn't help his curiosity. Shikamaru was not prone to become upset so easily but if there was any backlash due to the comment, well, his brother had it coming.

"Is that so," Sasuke said slowly looking at Gaara once more. "I have a feeling you want to tell me who the unlucky person is."

"That would be me," Shikamaru said in a terse tone.

Sasuke's eyes widened comically for a split second. He schooled his features and slowly turned to face Shikamaru. He raised a corner of his lip in amusement. At that, Shikamaru's face softened. He couldn't help but be reminded of his wife with that gesture and he gave a short laugh.

"Small world."

"Hn."

"Oh, come on!" Kiba shouted from the other side of the two-way mirror while slamming his hands on the glass. "Do you even have any balls, man?! That's your wife he's talking about!"

Itachi looked towards the two way mirror with a mild glare. It was silent after that.

"Moving on," Shikamaru said sounding bored. "Are we about done here?"

"Not quite," Gaara said and gathered his thoughts. "What else did you and Officer Uzumaki talk about?"

"Nothing you would understand," Sasuke said and jiggled his wrists.

Shikamaru pointed at the cuffs. Gaara looked over at Itachi who nodded.

"What wouldn't I understand?" Gaara said standing up and pulled out the keys to the cuffs from his pocket. He reached over and uncuffed Sasuke.

Sasuke rolled his shoulders until they popped and rubbed his wrists. Shikamaru noticed his wrists were slightly bruised.

"That's police brutality," Shikamaru said pointing at Sasuke's wrists.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his lawyer and inspected his wrists. But he didn't get a chance to give a thorough look. Itachi took his hands and examined Sasuke's wrists. Then he turned to give Gaara a glare.

"Calm down, Itachi," Sasuke said and grimaced when Itachi's stern gaze turned to him. "Those bruises are from last night."

"Last night?" Itachi said with a furrowed brow.

"Hn." Sasuke turned his face away.

Itachi released his wrists and looked at his little brother intently. Though Sasuke wouldn't meet his eyes. The awkwardness that settled around the brothers made Shikamaru fidget.

"I really need to speak to my client alone."

"He still hasn't answered my question," Gaara said not the slightest bit affected by the situation. "He agreed to answer them. Or did you change your mind?"

"Like I said, you wouldn't understand," Sasuke said through tight lips. He was fighting a blush due to his brother being there and Gaara was only making the situation more awkward.

"What exactly?" Gaara persisted.

"Tongue in cheek type banter," Sasuke said looking at Gaara and pushing down his embarrassment by giving the detective attitude. "You don't have a sense of humor. Or even understand the basics of flirting."

The room fell silent for a moment. Gaara's expression seemed to tighten or it could've been a trick of the light.

"What happened after the advances were made?" Gaara said seemingly undeterred.

Sasuke lifted up his hands and showed his wrists to Gaara who raised an eyebrow in question. Sasuke knew better than to look at his brother but he was aware Gaara wouldn't relent until he was satisfied. He stood up and lifted his shirt a little. He undid the top button on his jeans and pulled down his pants just enough to show off the finger bruises on his hip.

"Woah!" Shikamaru said and waved his hands trying to get Sasuke to stop.

Itachi couldn't help think that he would've been better off if he wasn't aware of his brother's sexual life. A grinning Naruto flashed in his mind and his jaw tightened. Itachi didn't work with the beat officer directly or any of them for that matter; the detectives were the ones that were under his command. Though he had interacted with the officer before it was never on personal matters. So his knowledge of the blond officer was only superficial.

Sasuke stared at Gaara and only at Gaara. "Does that satisfy your curiosity? Or do you need a play by play?"

Gaara lifted up a hand. A universal sign that meant he did not need to hear anything further.

"Did the two of you have anything to eat or drink?"

Sasuke fixed his clothes and sat back down.

Itachi tightened his hands on his knees. He knew why Gaara was asking those questions and he hoped that his brother hadn't started using again.

"No."

"Take any substances—?"

"I've been clean since I was fifteen. Just ask your sister."

Shikamaru's body tensed and his jaw tightened. He knew that his wife volunteered at a rehab center. And that explained how Sasuke knew her. But still, he hadn't been aware she was working closely with anyone in particular. Could she be his client's sponsor? Wasn't he affiliated with Sound? Shikamaru was not too happy about that.

"Did the officer take any—?"

"Not to my knowledge."

"What is this about, detective?" Shikamaru said annoyed.

"Only about Officer Uzumaki," Gaara said lowering his voice. He swallowed then cleared his throat. "I needed to know if anything had affected his state of mind. Was there anything of significance said or is there anything you left out?"

"Nothing else comes to mind," Sasuke said with a slight frown. "I fell asleep before him and when I left this morning, he was still asleep."

"Thank you for answering my questions," Gaara said and looked at Itachi. "Unless you have anything further to ask…"

"No," Itachi said and stood up.

"You're free to go but we may contact you if we have any follow up questions," Gaara said in a low tone.

"Hn."

Gaara and Itachi walked to the door just as a young officer pushed through the door.

"Konohamaru," Gaara said with a tilt of his head.

"Sorry!" the young man said quickly. "I was looking for Officer Inuzuka! He told me to tell him if I heard anything about Naruto and he just woke up!"

A door slamming open was heard. Kiba ran down the hall shouting over his shoulder.

"I'm taking my meal break in the hospital, Sarge!"

Konohamaru looked between Gaara and Kiba before he too took off in a run.

"Sarge?" Gaara said looking over at Itachi.

"Go," Itachi told him and Gaara took off, meeting up with his brother Kankuro in the hallway.

"Itachi," Sasuke called out to his brother before the door shut.

"I don't have time for you right now, Sasuke. Go home, get some rest," Itachi said without looking back. The door shut with a click.

"Tch!"

"Hey, man," Shikamaru said and rubbed the back of his head. "I have to ask. How do you know my wife?"

Sasuke turned to look at him and smiled.

"I don't really know her," Sasuke said and shrugged. "But if you must know, I met her the night Gaara tried to kill me."

Shikamaru looked at Sasuke and wondered if he was telling the truth or not.

"I just don't like Gaara," Sasuke said.

"Alright," Shikamaru said and began to gather his things. "We need to talk but I'd rather do this in my office. I'm just going to talk to Officer Uzumaki first, make sure you have a solid alibi. Do you think he will corroborate with your story?"

"Maybe," Sasuke said almost sounding like he didn't rightly care. "Maybe not."

Shikamaru looked at him in disbelief.

"You never know, he might still be in the closet," Sasuke said with a shrug and stood up. "If you're heading to the hospital, I wouldn't mind getting a ride from you."

"What do you need to go to the hospital for?" Shikamaru said looking him over.

"I want to visit someone," Sasuke said then he looked at Shikamaru who was making a sour face. "It's alright, you could say no."

"No, it's alright," Shikamaru said and yawned. "Come on, let's go. We can talk on the way."

Shikamaru waited until Sasuke was given his personal effects and they made their way to his car quietly. When they made it onto the road, Shikamaru asked Sasuke if he'd had anything to eat. Sasuke simply shook his head but said he was fine. He didn't have any money so he wasn't going to ask for anything. Besides the fact that he didn't really like to eat out.

"Who's this friend you have to see at the hospital?" Shikamaru asked eyeing Sasuke through his peripheral.

"I never said it was a friend," Sasuke said but didn't add anything else.

"I thought you were just talking like that because you didn't like the detectives, but it seems you don't like to say more than you've been asked," Shikamaru surmised.

"I'm not much for chit-chat," Sasuke said and looked out the window. His fingers twitched and he tightened his fist.

"What's up?"

"Ah, I need a smoke," Sasuke said ran a hand over his face.

Shikamaru pointed at the glove compartment and opened the ashtray in his car. There was a lighter sitting in it. Sasuke raised an eyebrow and reached for the glove compartment.

"I could use one too," Shikamaru said and handed Sasuke the lighter.

"You smoke some cheap ass shit," Sasuke said lighting a stick before handing it to Shikamaru. Then lit one for himself, taking a long drag. "Fuck. These are definitely going to give me cancer."

Shikamaru chuckled.

"So Gaara tried to kill you, huh?" Shikamaru said sounding amused.

"Back to that are we?" Sasuke asked while leaning back into the seat. He took another long drag of the cigarette. "It was a long time ago."

"Tell me about it," Shikamaru said and stopped at a red light.

"I was about thirteen or so," Sasuke said and stopped talking when Shikamaru started to cough, choking on nothing but surprise. "You want to hear this or not?"

"Yeah, sorry."

"I had just been marked," Sasuke said pointing at the tattoo on his neck. "I was jumped by some idiots in Sound and they branded me before they let me go. I was basically left for dead. It turned out they had some grudge against Itachi. And while I was in the hospital, CPS couldn't get ahold of my brother and they placed me in a home with some asshole cop. New home, new school. That's where I had my run in with Gaara. He was in Sand and as soon as he saw my tattoo, he was gunning for me. He just didn't know that I could defend myself. He was a tough asshole though and he almost managed to kill me. But I got a left in and busted his lip. The sight of his own blood set him off. He had some sort of psychotic break and that was when his sister showed up. He roughed her up and I managed to subdue him. He was taken to the mental hospital where he got better I suppose. And I was taken to juvie and placed on the watch list as someone associated with Sound. I wasn't there long, Kabuto got me out and placed me right in Orochimaru's grasp."

"Damn."

"Hn."

"I can see why you don't like him," Shikamaru said and let out a breath. "He had a hand in making your life more difficult than it needed to be."

"That's not why I don't like him," Sasuke said and Shikamaru looked at him questionably. "I just don't like his stupid face."

Shikamaru started to laugh. He shook his head for a moment and looked at Sasuke who just smirked as he lit another cigarette.

"These really are shit," Sasuke said taking another long drag.

"Says the man as he smokes his second one."

"Well, they do say they're addicting."

Shikamaru chuckled again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does anyone else read Ao no flag or 19 days? Because goddam, I think those two mangas are currently my favorites besides Haikyuu, ha ha.


	5. Immediate family only

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's been a lot of questions that I cannot answer because they'll be answered later in the story. But there was one about their Naruto and Sasuke's ages. I'm being vague about those sort of details so that I have more wiggle room when it comes to the storyline. I know it seems fatuous but it helps me more than you can imagine. I will say that in my mind they're in their early twenties and everyone else's ages follow the canon age difference. As for why Sasuke broke into Naruto's motel room, well, there's no real story behind that other than what Sasuke mentions in that first chapter, it was an opportunity that seemed too good to be true. It was simply an impulse. Hope that answers a few questions.

When Naruto came to, his entire body felt stiff. He looked around and saw nothing but white. The sounds of beeping and air being compressed nearby added to the sounds of people walking by, hushed conversations, and a medicinal scent… He was in the hospital. He wanted to rub his face out of habit but all he could do was close his eyes. He tried to think back to what he was doing before. Why was he in the hospital?

He was drawing a blank.

He opened his eyes again when he heard someone walk closer to him. A head of black hair came into view.

"H-h-heh," he said struggling to find his voice. He'd wanted to say 'hey, lady' or something but it was all he could manage.

"You're awake," the face said. "Can you hear me okay?'

"Y-yeh."

Naruto had to squint. Why was it so bright in the room?

"You went through quite an ordeal and plenty of people are worried," the face said.

Naruto tried to laugh but ended up coughing.

"I'm Doctor Shizune Kato and I have a few questions for you," the face said in a sweet motherly voice after Naruto calmed down. "You think you're up for it?"

"Y-yeh," Naruto said and then cleared his throat after having a sip of water the doctor offered. "Y-yeah."

"Good," the doctor smiled and moved back a little. Leaving Naruto only the view of her forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"Uh, weird," Naruto said feeling grateful that his voice was working now. "Stiff."

The woman moved away for a moment.

"Try wiggling your toes."

Naruto did as asked but he didn't feel anything.

"Good," Doctor Shizune said.

Naruto felt something press on his foot and he tightened his fists. Weird was an understatement of what he'd just felt. There was no way she'd just cut into his foot, right? Right?

"I take it you felt that."

"Yeah," Naruto said with a nervous smile and let out a breath.

' _It was just my imagination. Thank, god.'_

"I was wondering if I still had a body. Thought I was only a head there for a moment when I first came to."

The doctor chuckled and moved closer so that Naruto could see her face.

"That's probably the morphine," she told him. "It has that effect sometimes. Let's try something different, just follow my finger with your eyes."

Naruto did as was told.

"Jeez, I'm really stoned aren't I?" he said having seen a trail after the finger that lasted a little too long for his taste.

"Your reactions are good," the doctor said and leaned away again. "Now, here comes the difficult part. Can you tell me your name?"

"Starting with the  _really_  difficult questions now, right, doc?" Naruto said playfully. "But I think I know this one. My name is Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki."

"Good, Naruto," Shizune said looking at him with a small smile. "Do you remember what happened?"

"I guess this one's the  _important_  question, right doc?"

"You're doing good, Naruto. Don't worry if you don't remember, it's normal in these situations. But can you tell me the last thing you remember?"

"Uh, my partner came to get me at my place." Naruto racked his brains. What the hell happened next? Burritos and Iruka. "Oh no," Naruto said and gasped. "What happened to the kids?"

"I don't follow, Naruto, what kids?" the doctor said placing a hand on his shoulder. He'd been the only one hurt in the accident. There hadn't been any reports about any kids.

"Uh, we got a call about some kids in an alley. Oh god, are they okay? I can't remember anything after that. Where's my partner, is he here too?"

"Calm down, Naruto," Shizune said noticing his heart rate spike. "Just breathe for a moment. We'll sort this all out, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Naruto said and closed his eyes. It wouldn't do him any good to freak out now.

"Your sergeant and partner are in the waiting room. Would you like to see them?"

"Yes!"

"Alright, calm down, I'll go get them for you but I don't want you to strain yourself, okay? We'll need to keep the visit short," the doctor said and began to walk away.

"Sure thing, doc!"

Naruto closed his eyes and tried for the life of him to remember what happened to those kids but the only memory that came to mind was him telling the kids to run and seeing them run towards his partner. Now, he was in the hospital. Jezzus fuck, was it a bomb? Couldn't someone tell him what happened? If someone didn't tell him soon, he was going to go insane!

"Naruto!"

That was Iruka's voice. Naruto still couldn't move his head so his eyes moved in every direction until Iruka was in his face.

"Naruto," Iruka said placing a hand on Naruto's head and caressing his hair like a father would his child.

"Sarge, please tell me what happened to the kids," Naruto said ignoring the worried features on Iruka's face. He was fine. But the kids, what the hell happened to the kids?

"Naruto?" Iruka said and then sighed standing up straight. He rubbed his face and then looked at Naruto with a stern glare. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I don't know, Sarge, okay? But where is Zaji? What happened to the kids?"

"I'm right here, Naruto! Thank god you're okay!" Zaji said pushing an angry Iruka aside. "I was so worried. I just, if something would've happened to you…"

"Zaji, I'm about to die in the next five seconds! Tell me what the fuck happened to those kids!"

Naruto was getting very  _very_  annoyed with the both of them. Why couldn't they understand? Why didn't they care? They were just kids, goddammit!

"Die? You're dying?!" Zaji fell to his knees. Not that Naruto could see.

"Of a heart-attack or a stroke! Unless someone tells me what happened to those kids!"

"Naruto! This isn't the time to be joking around!" Iruka said losing his patience. They'd been very worried about the blond idiot and all he cared about was a trio of misfit ten-year-olds. Then Iruka sighed and remembered how big Naruto's heart was. Of course, he'd worry about everyone else's well being before his own.

"Come on, Sarge!"

"Keep it down in here, this is a hospital! People are trying to rest to get better! Now, shut the hell up!"

Naruto heard the stomping of feet and a very fierce angry aura enter his room. He gulped.

"You two shouldn't be in here. This area is for immediate family only."

All Naruto saw was blonde hair then the woman pushed Iruka aside and he saw the biggest boobs he'd ever seen in his life.

"Jezzus, fuck," Naruto said and then suddenly there was an angry face looming over his own.

"I see you're doing better," the woman said flicking him on the forehead before she turned away. "I need this patient moved out of the ICU right now!"

"Yes, Doctor Tsunade, right away!" someone said quickly and nervously from afar. To Naruto, it sounded like Doctor Shizune but he couldn't really say.

"You two, follow me," the doctor told Iruka and Zaji.

"Right," Iruka said nervously. "Sorry about the noise."

"Wait a fucking minute! Someone tell me what the fuck happened to the kids! Please!"

"The kids are fine. We took them—" Zaji had rushed to his side and started to speak before he was yanked away by some inhuman force.

"You could chat later," Tsunade said in a low menacing tone.

"Yes, ma'am! Thank you, ma'am!" Naruto said nervously and swallowed. He smacked himself in the face when he tried to salute the doctor. "Ow!"

Naruto forgot about the pain right away and grinned. The kids were fine. They were fine! Naruto couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips at that thought.

He was moved to a room after a ride up the elevator. A couple of orderlies settled him in the room near a window and the nurse adjusted his bed so that he was upright. They closed the curtain separating him from the other person in the room. It wasn't much longer after that that he felt his eyelids start to feel heavy and he succumb to slumber.

* * *

Sasuke had told Shikamaru everything he'd told the detectives except he started from the beginning and skipped the sexual act. Shikamaru simply sighed when Sasuke admitted to breaking into Naruto's motel room. But he didn't say anything. It wasn't his place to do so. Sasuke was being forthcoming and he couldn't complain about that. He even told Shikamaru why he believed the branch was robbed so easily and told him that he wouldn't be surprised if one of the tellers knew at least one of the people involved. Though Sasuke couldn't prove it because he wasn't sure who the perpetrators were. He hadn't seen them, not even in profile. He then mentioned that the two who were murdered were associates of Sound. He imagined that the theft was some sort of initiation that went wrong. But he said that he didn't think anyone in Sound had actually killed them.

"What makes you say that?" Shikamaru asked curiously.

"Because they might be idiots, but even they wouldn't do something so stupid while Orochimaru was laid out in the hospital," Sasuke said looking at Shikamaru with a serious expression. "They're all stupidly loyal. They may have pulled off the stunt just to show off but the double murder and abandoning the stolen vehicle at the gym owned by Orochimaru… I don't know. It's like someone was going out of their way to give him the middle finger. It doesn't make sense. Unless they were trying to make it look like it was me."

"Why is that?"

"Ah," Sasuke said and rubbed his hand over his face. "Orochimaru always treated me differently. Favored me, I suppose. Some of them were jealous. And when I left Sound, there were a few that weren't too happy about it."

"Left Sound. You're no longer a part of Sound?" Shikamaru said a bit confused.

"No. I never really was. Orochimaru doesn't force anyone to join up and I wasn't marked by choice. That's why Kabuto became my legal guardian, Orochimaru wanted to protect me from Sand, Stone, and Cloud because of what his underlings did to me. Or that's what they told me. I wasn't an idiot but I played the part of a naive kid pretty convincingly. It took a couple of years for me to realize that I had started to feel like I was one of them. I just wasn't sure when it happened. I was using, committing petty crimes, and some not so petty… It was hard not to get sucked into that lifestyle along with everyone else. Officially, I'm not affiliated with Sound. I'm not even registered on the police database as a member. But everyone I happen to be around… is. And so the first one to get pinched whenever something happens is usually the one who isn't involved in the crime itself. I think the detectives hope that if they press me hard enough that they can turn me into an informant or something since my brother is one of them."

"So you  _are_  loyal to them?" Shikamaru said having come to that conclusion after what he'd heard.

"To Sound?" Sasuke said and scoffed. "If the police did their jobs properly, they wouldn't need me to solve their cases."

"Uh huh," Shikamaru said giving Sasuke a skeptical look.

Sasuke simply stared at Shikamaru who started to feel a little hot. He wiped his forehead and it felt a little slick with sweat.

"Hey, man, what does it matter what I think?" Shikamaru said and blew out a breath when Sasuke finally released him from his intimidating stare. "As long as you didn't have anything to do with it, and even if you did, I'll defend you. That's my job and I'm damn good at it."

"Hn."

They had arrived at the hospital and were parked while they had their conversation. But seeing that Sasuke had told him all he needed to know, for the time being, Shikamaru pointed at the hospital and Sasuke nodded. He got off the car and thanked Shikamaru for the ride. But he waited for the other man and they walked to the hospital entrance together.

They were both quiet as they walked up. Both lost in their own thoughts. That was until they crossed the threshold of the hospital entrance and a pink blur rushed at Sasuke almost toppling him over.

"Sasuke!" said the pink puff that had attached itself to Sasuke's chest.

"Sakura?" Sasuke said confused with a slight frown.

"Friend of yours?" Shikamaru said looking at the girl who had a fierce hold on his client.

"Something like that," Sasuke said and tried to pry her off. He managed to push her far enough to see the girl's face. "Don't tell me…"

"Huh?" Sakura said and blinked. "Oh! No, no, no, no! It's not like that. They just don't let me see her. Those fucking assholes! I was in the ambulance with her and they still—"

Sasuke covered her mouth with his hand. Then he let out a sigh. She talked too much. Most of the time he didn't mind. But now wasn't the time. It wasn't her fault most people treated her differently when she was dressed in her work clothes. Sakura hadn't had time to change, everything had happened so fast. Sasuke was surprised that she'd stuck around as long as she had. She probably hadn't gotten any sleep.

Shikamaru couldn't help but asses the girl. If he had to guess, she was either a stripper or a prostitute. Her skirt barely covered her ass and her blouse was almost nonexistent. It was completely see-through allowing anyone to see the red bra underneath not to mention her toned abs. She was wearing an oversized sweater but it was practically dragging on the ground, just hanging on to the woman by her thin wrists. Shikamaru slightly waved at Sasuke not wanting anything to do with the current predicament his client found himself in and headed to the receptionist's desk to ask about Officer Uzumaki. He still needed to get an interview and he hoped that he'd be allowed to visit the officer.

"Sakura, why don't you go home and get some rest. You're working tonight, aren't you?" Sasuke said and Sakura made a sour face.

"Alright. But, you'll have to let me know how she's doing alright?"

"Hn."

"Oh, I almost forgot," Sakura said and pulled out a wallet and a rubber-banded roll of cash from her oversized bag and handed them to Sasuke. "I forgot the name you gave the paramedics, so billing gave me the runaround. It's all there. Except for what I used for coffee and, you know…"

"Hn." Sasuke placed his wallet in his back pocket and the cash in the front pocket of his jeans. He'd given his wallet to her so that they could use his ID to register the girl and he'd also given them the money just in case they refused the girl simply because she didn't have insurance. But it seemed that it hadn't been necessary.

"Okay, I'll see you later?" she said while walking backyards.

Sasuke nodded and she giggled before she turned to leave. Sasuke waited until she was out the door before he headed to the receptionist's desk. Shikamaru was already on his way to the elevators and the only other person standing around was Suigetsu. He was surprised to see him, to say the least. Though he shouldn't have been surprised since Suigetsu always managed to find him even when he didn't want to be found.

"Sasuke! Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for you?" Suigetsu said with a lopsided grin.

"What do you want?" Sasuke said sidestepping the man.

"To celebrate," he said with a chuckle.

"Celebrate what exactly?" Sasuke said stopping and turning to face the other man.

"No way! You haven't heard yet, have you?"

Sasuke just gave him a deadpan stare.

"Orochimaru died," Suigetsu said walking up closer to Sasuke and softly spoke in his ear. "And you, my man, are the sole beneficiary."

Sasuke stood there gobsmacked for a moment. Then he shook his head and walked away from the other.

"Hey, where are you going?" Suigetsu said and jogged to catch up to Sasuke.

"I have someone to see," Sasuke said and walked up to the receptionist. "I'm here to see Fū. She was brought in last night."

"Only family members—"

"I'm her brother," Sasuke said cutting off the woman.

He sounded so serious that the woman had no room to question him. Suigetsu chuckled but refrained from saying anything. The woman apologized and gave Sasuke a room number. Then the two made their way to the elevator.

"I knew you were going to stop by to see her," Suigetsu said and chuckled. "That's why I was waiting for you here. You have a big heart, Sasuke. Always looking out for everyone else."

"Will you shut up," Sasuke said and got in the elevator.

"Sure, buddy," Suigetsu said and laughed. "But we're going to celebrate later. Here."

Suigetsu tossed Sasuke a cell phone right before the elevator doors closed. It was one of those cheap prepaid sorts.

"Tch!" Sasuke hated cell phones. He liked his privacy and to not be available to anyone. But he pocketed the phone, he did want to speak to Suigetsu about what he'd said. He just had something else to take care of first.

Sasuke walked into the ward where they were keeping Fū and walked past the nurses' station looking for the right room.

"Excuse me," said one of the nurses running up to him and blocking his path.

Sasuke looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"How can I help you?"

"I'm here to see Fū," Sasuke said and looked around at the rooms before he found the right one. "I was told she was in room 5112."

"You need to check in," the nurse said a bit flustered. "And only family members—"

"I'm her brother," Sasuke said cutting her off.

"Right," she said and shook her head. "Another brother." She'd muttered that under her breath.

Sasuke thought that was odd. Then he noticed a uniformed officer standing in front of a room. He wondered about that for a moment before the nurse thrust a clipboard in front of his face.

"Sign in here, please. And I need to see your ID," she said and then pointed at Fū's room.

Sasuke handed the nurse his ID and she scanned it before handing it back. Next, he signed in the sheet and went towards Fū's room that was right next to the room where the officer was standing. The officer looked at him with a blank stare but Sasuke didn't linger. He walked into the next room.

There was a man sitting in the chair next to Fū's bed. But Fū wasn't around.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked as he took in the man.

"Shibuki," the man said. "Are you a friend of Fū's?"

"Something like that," Sasuke said simply. "Where is she?"

Shibuki pointed at the door behind Sasuke then they both heard a toilet flush.

Fū came out of the bathroom slowly while dragging her IV pole with her. When she saw Sasuke she grinned.

"Sasuke! I can't believe you're here," she said happily.

"I wanted to see how you were doing," Sasuke said. "Everything all right?"

"Yeah, they're letting me go home today," she said and cringed when she tried to hurry her pace.

Sasuke helped her back to bed.

"Thanks," she said and pulled the cover over her legs and up to her waist.

"I heard a second brother showed up," a doctor said from the doorway.

"Doctor Tsunade?" Fū said in surprise and looked from Shibuki to Sasuke.

' _Second brother?_ ' she thought confused.

Shibuki stood and cleared his throat.

"Funny that none of you look like one another."

"We have different fathers," Sasuke said at the same time that Shibuki said, "We have different mothers."

The doctor raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Different mothers and fathers?"

"He's adopted," both men said at the same time.

Tsunade chuckled and waved a hand in front of herself.

"It's fine, I don't care," she said with an amused glint in her eye. "As long as there's someone to look after the girl once she's discharged that's all that matters. But I do need to report the incident. And Fū isn't talking."

"That's because she can't," Sasuke said and Shibuki gave him an odd look. "She signed a non-disclosure agreement."

"So people are allowed to stab her and get away with it?" Shibuki asked upset.

"Hey, nothing happened. I'm alright," Fū said quickly and nervously.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the man.

"You have no room to talk."

"What's that supposed to mean? Fū has been under my care—"

"Really?" Sasuke scoffed. "You're wearing designer clothes and she's barely making ends meet. From where I'm standing it doesn't look like you're doing a good job—"

"And you are?"

Fū flushed in embarrassment and looked down at her lap, playing with her fingers. She'd just finished college but it was hard to get a job without any experience. She had all those student loans and credit card bills she had to pay. She needed to keep the creditors off her back. So she took a risk working as a host in a private bar. She roomed with three other girls that worked with her but she was still barely making it work. She knew that Shibuki wouldn't understand what she did so she didn't tell him. He wasn't too happy when he found out where she was working. But he wasn't responsible for paying her bills just because his father had taken her in when she was younger. She needed to take care of herself. And she'd be damned if she couldn't.

"Both of you, be quiet. You can have your argument elsewhere," Tsunade cut in. "I need to know what happened." She pointed at Sasuke. "Start talking."

"I don't know what happened. We work together but I'm the bartender. I can't see everything that's going on. I heard her scream and rushed over. By the time I got there, one of the bouncers had already dragged the customer away," Sasuke told the doctor.

"What's the name of this bar?"

"I can't tell you that. It's a privacy issue. And there are protocols we need to follow. One of which states we can't call emergency services. If the cops or an ambulance shows up, it's bad for business. I moved her to a disclosed location and called for help from there. I had one of the girls accompany her but she wasn't allowed past the lobby," Sasuke said to the doctor in annoyance. "You have rules in place as well so don't get all self-righteous about where we work."

Fū looked up at Sasuke and smiled when he said that. He was right, she didn't need to be embarrassed about what she did or where she worked. And it wasn't like it was some sleazy bar. The most she did with a customer was keep him or her company. They weren't allowed to touch her. And she actually enjoyed what she did. It was almost like she was a therapist. People told her everything about their lives. And she loved to talk to people. But missing even one day of work was going to be rough. She didn't even think she could afford the hospital stay. But Sasuke told her not to worry about anything when he forced her to go with the paramedics. And she trusted him. She was glad he'd shown up because she didn't know how much longer she could put up with the doctor and Shibuki giving her the third degree.

"What about the person who did this to her? What happens to them?" Shibuki asked upset.

"Fū isn't going to press charges so there isn't a crime to report," Sasuke said and pulled out the roll of bills from his pocket. He tossed it at Fū who caught it. "You don't have to worry about the bill." Then he looked at Shibuki. "And the person who did this to her, you don't need to worry about him. He'll never come anywhere near her again."

"So your boss thinks that throwing money at the problem solves everything?" Shibuki said with a huff.

"Who said the boss had anything to do with this?"

"Then whose money is that?"

"What do you care?"

"Alright, I heard enough," Tsunade said realizing that it was Sasuke who was looking out for the girl. She wasn't happy about what she'd heard. But then again, she looked at Sasuke, there wasn't anything to be done that he hadn't already taken care of.

"Who is taking her home?"

"I am," Shibuki said pointing at himself.

Tsunade nodded and had him sign the discharge papers after she explained how to care for the girl at home.

"Remember, you're bedridden for a week. After that, take it slow. I recommend that you take two weeks off of work."

Fū made a face at that.

"Don't worry," Sasuke told her. "You should have enough there to cover not only the hospital bill but the days you miss from work. If not, let me know."

"Thank you."

"Hn."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 19 days makes me all fuzzy inside. And Haikyuu just makes me crack up. They are truly necessary in my life! "D


	6. Let it slip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read your reviews and they make me so happy with all the speculations. This chapter has more reveals. And a scene I've been wanting to write for a while now. It's very short but one of my favorites in this story. :D

Naruto woke with a start. He didn't know why but he'd dreamt that a truck was barreling towards him. He was breathing a bit harshly and looking around frantically as if he expected to see the truck. But all he saw was Kiba looking at him mouth agape.

"Kiba?" Naruto said curiously. "What the heck are you doing here?"

"Um," Kiba said and scratched his cheek. "Damn man, you look like shit!"

"I'd rather look like shit than be shit, asshole," Naruto said in annoyance.

Kiba sputtered for a moment.

"Naruto, you're awake," Gaara said as he walked past a grumbling Kiba.

"Gaara?" Naruto looked at the redhead in confusion. "Hey, what gives? Why are you two here? Where's my partner and Sarge?"

"They just left," Gaara told him and dragged a chair from the window to sit beside Naruto's bed. "The sergeant needed to get back but he took your partner and Konohamaru with him because they were being too loud."

"Konohamaru was here?" Naruto said with a small smile. Then furrowed his brow. "But why are you two here?! What happened to me?"

"Don't you remember—?" Kiba was about to tell him but Gaara stopped him.

"Huh? No, not really," Naruto said. He'd wanted to shake his head but couldn't. "Jeez, I feel stiff."

"Naruto, what's the last thing you remember?" Gaara said calmly.

He took in the officers bruised face and the neck brace. He'd read that Naruto dislocated a shoulder and had a broken leg. But other than that had only suffered minor scrapes and bruises. Nothing too serious. The doctors were worried that there would be brain damage but other than an apparent concussion, the officer seemed to be doing fine.

Gaara had called the hospital before he left the precinct and had them rush a tox screen on Naruto. He spoke to a Doctor Tsunade before he walked into the room and found out it was clean. All that was left was for Naruto to remember what happened.

"Uh, taking a call about some kids," Naruto said and shook his head. "Zaji told me the kids were fine but no one's really told me what happened."

"Naruto, you were hit by a car," Gaara said slowly and Kiba was getting frustrated. He hated how patient Gaara was while questioning people.

"Ah," Naruto said and chuckled. "That explains the nightmare."

"What nightmare?" Kiba asked quickly.

"About a truck coming right at me," Naruto said and let out a breath. "But you said it was a car, right? Why'd I dream about a truck?"

"From what a few bystanders said, you did walk right in front of a truck—"

"I did what now?" Naruto said cutting Gaara off and looked at Kiba.

"You stepped onto a busy street. When the truck honked his horn you tried to get out of the way but it was a car that hit you," Kiba said quickly and sounded more emotional than Naruto had thought possible. He cleared his throat. "We just don't get why you'd do something so stupid, Naruto."

"Uh," Naruto was just as confused. He closed his eyes and let out a breath. "You guys are leaving something out. If I was checking on some kids, how'd I end up in the street getting hit by a car?"

"You left the kids with your partner and took off after a person of interest," Kiba said having seen the glare Gaara sent his way. He wasn't stupid. He knew better than to tell Naruto everything. But they had to give him something to jog his memory.

"Really?" Naruto said fidgeted. Then he groaned when he tried to move his arm. "No, I don't remember nothing about that. Who was it anyway?"

"He got away, Naruto," Gaara said and closed his eyes. They still didn't have any word about Kabuto's whereabouts either.

"That sucks," Naruto said with a slight pout.

Naruto closed his eyes and tried to picture himself chasing after someone. But nothing came to mind. Meanwhile, Gaara and Kiba looked at each other with worried expressions. They weren't very hopeful that Naruto would remember what happened. And it seemed less likely that Sasuke was involved. Though neither liked the fact that Naruto had been with the man the night before. Though they still needed to ask Naruto about that.

"Knock, knock," Shikamaru said from the doorway. There was uniformed officer standing guard at the door. He gave Shikamaru the creeps. He'd looked inside and noticed that the other bed in the room was empty. And then he heard a low growl and then Detective Inuzuka peered around the curtain. "Is Officer Uzumaki available for an interview?"

"Who's that, Kiba? Let em' in," Naruto said loudly and curiously.

Shikamaru took that to mean to enter, so he did.

"Officer Uzumaki," Shikamaru said with a slight nod. He chanced a glance at Gaara and couldn't help the smirk that crossed his features when he remembered the reason Sasuke gave for not liking his brother-in-law.

Gaara simply gave him a deadpan stare.

"Hey, what's up, man?" Naruto said and smiled. He recognized him as the attorney that represented those less fortunate.

"I don't know if you remember me, but my name is Shikamaru Nara. I'm a defense attorney and I need to ask you a few questions. My current client has named you as his alibi and I wanted to confirm his story," Shikamaru said carefully.

"No shit?" Naruto said and smiled widely. "I've never been someone's alibi before. Who is this mystery person?"

"Naruto, this isn't a game," Kiba said in annoyance.

But before he said anything else, Shikamaru raised his hand to stop him from talking. He could already hear Kiba claiming Sasuke's guilt. That would not bode well.

"Of course not, dipshit," Naruto said and groaned when he moved a little too much. "Fuck, that hurts."

"Naruto, do you need us to call the nurse?" Gaara asked in concern while standing up to go get help.

"Naw, man," Naruto said and closed his eyes for a moment. He took a deep breath and then opened his eyes and smiled. "See, I'm good. So, what were you saying?"

"Uh," Shikamaru said and scratched the back of his head. Naruto looked pretty banged up. But he knew that the sooner he cleared his client's name the better it would be. "My client named you as his alibi. He said he was with you last night from about eleven or so at night till about seven this morning."

As Naruto heard what the lawyer said, blood rushed to his face without his consent and he looked at Shikamaru red-faced. Seeing the prominent blush on the officer, Shikamaru paused before he asked the question. But it was Kiba's outburst that startled everyone in the room.

"What the fuck are you blushing about?!" Kiba said loudly making a sour face.

"Huh?" Naruto said and furrowed his brow. "I'm blushing?"

"Nevermind that," Shikamaru said and let out a breath. "Do you remember who you were with last night?"

"Uh, hmm," Naruto said closing his eyes trying to think back. But the blush on his face was still there without his knowledge. "Uh, I can't remember his name. But I think...uhm, Uchiha? I think he said Uchiha. Why does that name sound so familiar? Hey! Isn't there a sergeant at the precinct with that name?"

"Yes," Gaara said simply.

"Can you confirm that he was with you—?"

"Sasuke!" Naruto said suddenly cutting Shikamaru off and grinned. "Sasuke Uchiha. I remember now. It was late. I usually go to bed around ten when I have an early shift the next day. But I couldn't sleep cause the neighbors were going at it. They were pretty loud. Bamn. Bamn. Bamn! Against the wall. And they just kept going at it for like an hour, ya know?" Naruto wanted to scratch his cheek but it was bandaged plus it was awkward to use his left hand so he let his hand fall back to the bed. "Umm, let's see. He asked me if was going to call the cops." Naruto chuckled. "And then...hmm." Naruto shifted in the bed and groaned. Then he closed his eyes and took a breath that sounded painful.

"Naruto, I'm getting the nurse," Gaara said and walked towards the door. He knew Naruto was just trying to be a tough guy or something stupid but it was clear that he needed pain medication.

"Ah, no! I don't want any more morphine," Naruto said and closed his eyes again. "It's not that bad really."

But Gaara didn't listen to him and walked out to find a nurse.

"Fucker," Naruto said and looked at Kiba who was making a weird face. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Nothing, man," Kiba said and shook his head. "It's just creeping me out that you're blushing."

"Am I really blushing?" Naruto asked Shikamaru who nodded.

But Shikamaru didn't think it was because he was embarrassed. No, it was more than likely due to the amount of pain the officer was in.

"You don't need to act so tough," Shikamaru said and tilted his head to the side.

"It's not like that! It makes me feel weird," Naruto said with a slight pout and closed his eyes again. "And I'm tired of being asleep, ya know."

"Alright, well, is there anything else you can tell me about my client?" Shikamaru said and scratched the back of his head not wanting to know more than he already knew about the misuse of handcuffs. But he needed to prove his client was with Naruto at the time of the murder. "Like how long he was with you or what time you went to sleep."

"Well, we fell asleep, uhm. I can't say what time it was because I didn't pay attention to the time. But I woke up again around two cause of the neighbors. They started to argue about something. I couldn't get back to sleep so I watched some tv and ordered pizza. Sasuke slept through it all. My partner came to get me after nine the next morning so I don't know what time he actually left."

"Thank you, officer. I appreciate your help in this matter," Shikamaru said just when the nurse walked in to administer some more pain medication.

"Yeah, no problem. If there's anything else you need to ask me, just give me a holler," Naruto said but he was speaking in a low tone and had his eyes closed the entire time.

Naruto's color began to return to normal once the pain receded. The nurse took his temperature and told him he was running a fever. She told him to get some rest and told the detectives not to keep Naruto awake for too long before she left the room.

"Get well soon, Officer Uzumaki," Shikamaru said with a slight wave as he made his way to the door.

"That's the plan," Naruto said sounding more like himself. He opened his eyes and smiled at Shikamaru.

"Feeling better?" Gaara asked and Naruto nodded.

"Of course," Naruto said with a grin and then he heard Tsunade shout from the room next to his. He gulped. Then he looked at Kiba. "Man, I ended up with a hard ass for a doctor. And her jugs are huge!"

"Yeah, I saw her," Kiba said with a silly grin.

"Too bad she's an old hag," Naruto said with a pout.

"What, would you have asked her out if she was younger?" Kiba said and smirked. "You think you have that kind of game?"

"Heh." Naruto grinned and didn't say anything else.

"Oh, come off it, Naruto! If you weren't some famous hero, no one would even look at you twice!" Kiba said and looked away angrily.

Naruto just chuckled and then looked over at Gaara.

"Don't you guys have anything better to do than spoil my view with those ugly mugs?" Naruto said with a smirk. "Wasn't there some big case going on or something?"

"You're right," Gaara said and looked at his phone. "We should probably get going."

"But Naruto, if you remember anything about what happened, call me alright?" Kiba said seriously.

"What'd I want to call you for?" Naruto said but he was just giving Kiba shit as usual.

"Fuck you, Uzumaki!" Kiba said flipping Naruto off.

Naruto laughed at that.

"Officer Naruto Uzumaki?"

Naruto heard the deep baritone and recognized the voice right away. Then Sasuke came into view.

Kiba was glaring daggers at him.

"Sasuke, how's your ass?" Naruto said with a goofy grin.

Sasuke snorted and walked past Kiba as if he wasn't even there.

"How's your dick?" Sasuke responded easily.

Naruto's eyes widened to saucers. He tried to look down but he couldn't.

"Oh, man," Naruto said in low voice. He sounded scared about something. "Gaara, call the doc. I can't feel my dick."

"Naruto," Gaara said slowly and then he pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn't want to deal with this. Now he understood why Naruto didn't want any more morphine. He was high as a kite.

Kiba looked away from him grumbling nonsense no one understood.

Sasuke walked up to Naruto and slipped his hand under the sheets and Naruto's gown. He ran a finger down Naruto's length before retracting his hand when he heard and felt Naruto respond to his touch.

"What the?" Kiba said turned and stared at the two in disbelief when Naruto's breath hitched making Gaara look up. Though he did see Sasuke's hand retreating from under the sheet.

Sasuke smirked at Naruto. "Did you feel that?"

"Uh yeah," Naruto said and swallowed.

"Your dick is perfectly fine, Officer Uzumaki," Sasuke said and made his way to the door when the phone in his pocket began to vibrate. "I have to go. But, I hope you get better real soon."

"Jezzus fuck," Naruto said and then he felt his eyelids get heavy. He closed his eyes and was fast asleep before Kiba or Gaara could properly react to what just happened.

As Sasuke walked out of the room, the officer on guard tapped his shoulder. Sasuke turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I was told to relay a message to you," the officer said.

"You're one of Danzo's," Sasuke said as he looked at the officer more closely.

"Danzo's? I'm not sure if you're aware but he's dead," the officer said.

"I was aware. That still doesn't make what I said any less true," Sasuke said and made to turn away but the officer took his arm.

"Lieutenant Hatake wants to meet with you," the officer said in a low tone and changing the subject.

"Says who?"

"My name is Sai. I'm an officer under Lieutenant Hatake's command."

"Well then, Sai. Tell your lieutenant to kiss my ass," Sasuke said and pulled on his arm forcing Sai to release him.

"I don't think that would be appropriate," Sai said making Sasuke snort.

Sasuke flipped him off. "What if you take a picture and tell it's from me, would that be appropriate?"

Sai snapped a picture of Sasuke giving the bird and began to type out a message to his lieutenant.

"I will make sure he receives it." But when Sai looked up again, Sasuke was already gone.

* * *

Sasuke met up with Suigetsu at the bar. They made their way up into a room in the attic. It was used as a storage room of sorts. But Suigetsu had made room for a couch. He liked to crash there after work hours when he was too tired or high to get home. Sasuke sat down and Suigetsu pulled out a stick of weed and lit it up. When he went to offer some to Sasuke, Sasuke waved his hand at him.

"Oh, come on, buddy! I told you we need to celebrate!" Suigetsu said but Sasuke looked at him warily for a moment.

"Is it laced with anything?" Sasuke asked carefully.

"No way! I wouldn't do that to you," Suigetsu said and Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him. "Seriously! No one wants to see your dark side again, especially me!"

"Dark side?" Sasuke said and snorted.

"Dude! You were really scary when you were still using. I mean, you kind of still are but not like back then," Suigetsu said and offered him the stick again.

Sasuke took it gingerly before he brought it close to his lips. They passed the stick between them in silence before Suigetsu chuckled happily.

"Aw yeah! We are celebrating good today!" Suigetsu said and laughed.

"What exactly are you celebrating, Suigetsu?"

"What do you mean? That fucking bastard is dead. D. E. A. D. Dead!"

"Hn."

"You know what I don't understand, Sasuke? You don't seem happy that he's gone," Suigetsu said looking at him curiously. "I mean, Karin let it slip once that you were the one to keep him out of jail. And now he left everything to you. Why'd you think that is? Why you and not Kabuto?"

"Did you know that Kabuto was originally from Stone?"

"What?"

"Kabuto was taken by Danzo from Stone and he placed him in the Leaf under the care of a woman Kabuto thought of as his mother. Kabuto was very young but he still remembers where he came from. Once emotional ties with the Leaf were established, Kabuto was placed in Cloud as a mole. But Kabuto knew too much about Stone, Leaf, and Cloud so Danzo ordered that woman, his mother, to kill him. Kabuto killed her in self-defense. He lost it after that and would've killed himself if Orochimaru hadn't shown up to save him. Then Orochimaru convinced Danzo not to kill him and Kabuto was back in the Leaf as a go-between Danzo and Orochimaru. But he was really there as a mole for Orochimaru."

"Are you talking about that dead commissioner?  _That_  Danzo?"

"That's the one."

"But why would he listen to Orochimaru?"

"Because Orochimaru was originally from the Leaf and worked hand in hand with Danzo."

"You're serious aren't you?"

"Danzo turned in a lot of evidence against Orochimaru trying to get rid of him and Orochimaru went into hiding," Sasuke said and leaned back on the sofa. "He didn't know that Danzo had betrayed him, at that time. Since Orochimaru wasn't caught or killed, Danzo helped Orochimaru found Sound so that Orochimaru wouldn't become suspicious of him. Even with Danzo's monetary help, Orochimaru still needed soldiers. So he began to recruit. Kabuto was the first, followed by Kimimaro, Jugo, Karin, you, and all those others before he saved me."

"Saved you?"

"Danzo wanted me dead. It was members of Root not Sound that left me for dead and marked me. He wanted me to look like a traitor. It was similar to what he'd done to Orochimaru. I don't know what Orochimaru traded for me, but I was a gift from Danzo to Orochimaru."

"Gift? That makes no sense, Sasuke."

"That's because you have no idea what the Leaf is," Sasuke said and looked at him with a smirk.

"What the Leaf is? What does that mean?"

"Leaf isn't like Sound or Cloud or even Stone. The Leaf works directly with the gang unit," Sasuke said and chuckled at the look of surprise on Suigetsu's face. "Why do you think that members of Leaf end up as police officers, detectives, and undercover agents? Sand allied with Leaf not so long ago and recently so did Mist. They're all narcs. Snitches. Informers. Whatever you want to call them."

"How do you know all of this?"

"Because," Sasuke said and chuckled. "I came from the Leaf. That's why Orochimaru trusted me. We both hated the Leaf. And after I discovered the truth, Danzo was killed. But Kabuto, who knows whose side that guy's on. Orochimaru didn't even know and never really trusted him."

"Sasuke, are you saying you're a narc?!"

But Sasuke didn't hear him, he'd began to laugh hard. Then Suigetsu started to laugh.

"Suigetsu," Sasuke said between fits of laughter. "You...said...it...wasn't laced."

"It's...not," Suigetsu answered through laughter.

They were laughing but were both looking at each other warily. Someone had purposely drugged them. Suigetsu stomped on the stick of weed the best he could. Or what was left of it. They had smoked more than half of it between the two of them. None of it made any sense. And Sasuke had no idea why he'd been so loose-lipped. What he'd told Shikamaru was simply to make the guy start to question all the rumors that revolved around Sasuke. But what he'd told Suigetsu, he'd never meant to tell anyone that. It was dangerous for anyone to find out and even though he hated the Leaf, his brother was still a part of them. But Sasuke couldn't think about any of that anymore. He was too lightheaded. He fell off the sofa right after Suigetsu did while their bodies convulsed with laughter and they both passed out.


	7. Feeling better?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From this point on this story is going to take a very dark turn. It wasn't planned, it's just where the story is leading. You can't have an organization that started with corruption not to have any backlash. I'm writing this story through either Sasuke or Naruto's perception so everything else that's happened(ing) in the background is being told not shown. I think that's getting confusing for a few people. I'm sorry about that. I'm obviously not a professional writer but I'm trying my best to tell the story the way it's unfolding in my mind, wherein it's further ahead and hopefully, I'm not failing to write it as clearly as possible.

Sasuke woke with a start. His head spun and he had the sudden urge to empty his stomach. He covered his mouth and made to sit up. A hand stopped him by gripping him firmly by the shoulder and his nose stung when he was forced to smell alcohol.

"Slow down there," Kabuto said sounding amused. "You'll make yourself sick."

The swab of alcohol was removed and Kabuto slowly helped Sasuke sit up.

"Feeling better?"

"Why am I here?" Sasuke said looking around and realizing he was in one of Orochimaru's old hideouts. They were closer to Cloud territory than Sasuke would have liked.

"I guess you wouldn't remember," Kabuto said with a chuckle. "You were drugged after all."

Sasuke looked at him warily. He felt sticky and could smell himself as if he hadn't showered in days.

"Suigetsu called me," Kabuto told him taking back a few steps. "Said someone was gunning for you. Then he said he had to get away from you because you were a narc. I wasn't sure what he was talking about. He didn't sound like he was firing on all cylinders. But he told me where you were and I got you out. Just in time, it seems…"

"What do you mean?"

"Club Hebi was seized by the Fire County Police Department."

"What?"

"From what've I've been able to find out, Tayuya, Sakon, Ukon, and Kidomaru were found dead at the club. Someone slashed them up and they died of blood loss. And the money that had been stolen during the bank robbery was stashed in Karin's office. She's in custody and apparently, she's saying you were the mastermind and even tried to kill her when she wanted to come forward."

Sasuke wasn't sure what to make of all that. Though it seemed Suigetsu must have told Karin that he was a narc. What an idiot.

"How long have I been here?"

"Four days," Kabuto said with a small smile. "I needed to flush the drug out of your system." He pointed at the IV attached to his arm, in the crook of his elbow. Sasuke turned to look at the almost empty bag and saw it was a simple saline solution. "Didn't think you'd want to be out and about while you couldn't think with a clear head. Who knows what you've had said if Suigetsu is out there spreading the news that you're some sort of narc while members of Sound are dropping like flies left and right."

"What are you talking about?"

"Kimimaro, Jirobo, and many other low-level pawns have turned out dead," Kabuto said and sighed. "I'm starting to believe that Orochimaru was killed and not that he died because of complications from his surgery."

Kabuto began to chuckle but it was not out of humor.

"Sound is no more Sasuke," Kabuto said and turned to walk out of the room. "You need to figure out what you're going to do next. I helped you out for the last time. You know, for old times sake." He looked over his shoulder and smiled. It looked like a genuine gesture. "See ya."

Sasuke watched the other man walk out with a blank expression and then ripped the needle out of his arm. He needed to get back to figure out what the hell was going on. But first, a shower and a change of clothes were in order. He felt weak, due to the fact that he'd been in bed for the past few days but not enough that he couldn't move around on his own.

Once he was clean and ready to go, he walked over to the garage and pulled the keys to a ninja off the hook. The bike wasn't exactly in his name but traveling while wearing a helmet was more than a little convenient.

It took him a couple of days to arrive at the apartment he rarely used. There wasn't much there except bare necessities though one thing it did have was a secure entrance through an underground garage. He idly wondered how much time he'd have to look through some security footage before he was taken into custody as he made his way up the elevator. There weren't many people who knew about his apartment but Karin was one of them. And if she was selling him out, she'd definitely spill about the apartment provided by the club. Seeing that as the manager, she too was provided an apartment under the same company that owned the club.

Sasuke had worked as a bartender three nights a week since the club opened but he was also in charge of hiring the staff. Karin was the manager in charge of payroll and all day to day business. The only other employees that had been working there with him since the beginning were Suigetsu, who worked as security, and Juugo, who worked as a bouncer. And though they were all in one way or another affiliated with Sound the club was not.

The owner or boss, as they referred to him vaguely, was never seen, or so the employees thought, and Karin wasn't even aware of who it was since the club was owned by a company that originated outside of Fire County. She'd been hired through Sasuke and had never questioned it. She had just been happy to be working for someone who wasn't Orochimaru for the first time in her life. And especially enjoyed all the perks, including the salary. She wasn't exactly loyal to anyone but herself. Sasuke knew that from the very start. But he never thought she'd turn on him the way she did. So he knew there had to be something else going on that had her point all fingers at him. And the only way to find out was to go through the club's surveillance video starting with the day he and Suigetsu were drugged.

As soon as he entered his apartment, he went straight to the computer and began to look at the footage. What he saw made his bones chill. Two men had tampered with the ventilation system running some sort of gas through the club. Their intention was to knockout out whoever was inside. They waited until Karin had arrived to enter the building accompanied by four Sound members. Tayuya, Sakon, Ukon, and Kidomaru. Karin confronted them and argued when they started to look around in places where they didn't belong and drinking the alcohol behind the bar. But there was no sound that accompanied the video so he didn't hear what was being said. And Sasuke was happy he couldn't hear Karin or the others when things took a turn for the worse.

Suddenly, the taller of the two men took hold of Tayuya and tied her up followed by the others. Perhaps it was the lingering effects of the gaseous drug in the building, but they didn't seem to know they were in trouble. Tied up and unable to defend themselves in the other man tormented them laughing all the while. One by one each Sound member was slashed over and over before Karin's eyes. The men didn't touch her but it seemed like they'd threatened her from the menacing posture the taller man took as he looked over her. And from the way she shook her head as she cried, Sasuke inferred that they were asking about him. And up in the attic, Suigetsu woke at the end—though he still was not completely in control of his motor functions—and he could hear what was being said downstairs. His eyes kept darting to Sasuke everytime Karin shook her head. And then the two men left after leaving a duffle bag in Karin's office.

Suigetsu was on the phone right away, assuming from what Kabuto said to Sasuke earlier, Suigetsu had called him. By the time Kabuto arrived, Suigetsu was long gone and Karin had managed to call the police who happened to arrive a few minutes after Kabuto had left with Sasuke in tow without Karin being aware they had even been there. She'd been hiding in her office and under her desk from the moment the two men left the premises until the police officers took her away.

Sasuke had no idea who the two men he'd seen in the video were except that one of them with the slick back silver hair looked eerily similar to the man who'd attacked Fū in the club. Who were they and what did they want? And why had they attacked Fū and the members of Sound if they wanted Sasuke? And why were they after Sasuke? None of it made any sense. But Sasuke could agree with Kabuto on one thing, Orochimaru's death was more than likely orchestrated. But to what means? And why go after Sound? Unless what they wanted was to instill fear on the other crews out there. Seeing that even though Sound was small and fairly new, all their powerful players were removed easily and without a fight.

Sasuke made a copy of the footage to give to his brother and saved it to a memory stick. He paced his apartment as he thought about what he'd seen. But nothing came to mind. He had no idea who those men were or who they were affiliated with.

He went to his bedroom without needing to actually go in there and froze when he saw Fū laying on his bed. She was completely still and looked as if someone had slashed her up from her ankles to her shoulders. Sasuke's body finally moved and he rushed to the girl but stopped when he noticed how pale she was and the lack of blood that surrounded her wounds. She'd been dead for a few days. Her body had been cleaned and dressed and left for Sasuke to find.

Sasuke ran back to his desk and grabbed the phone. It was a landline he rarely used but when he did, it was only to call his brother.

The phone rang once before it was answered right away.

" _Sasuke, stay where you are. I'll be there soon._ "

"Itachi, listen! There's something I need to tell you."

" _It can wait._ "

And he hung up.

Sasuke threw the cordless receiver across the room and just allowed himself to crumble to the floor. He didn't understand. Why Fū? She hadn't even been from Sound. Or anywhere else that Sasuke knew of. He rubbed his hand over his face in frustration. He didn't have any idea what was going on but whoever these people were, they were simply monsters. And he didn't think he'd ever meet anyone more callous than Danzo.

Sasuke sat on the floor leaning his head against the wall feeling completely void of any emotion. Maybe it was shock or denial. He wasn't sure. And didn't rightly care. The world could go fuck itself for all he cared at the moment.

* * *

Naruto was laying in his hospital bed completely bored out of his mind. He didn't understand why he couldn't go home yet. He missed his little room at the rundown motel. Hell, he even missed Zaji! He didn't want to be in the hospital anymore. But he knew something was going on that he wasn't told. Because it made absolutely no sense that he'd need a uniform police officer guarding his room. He tried asking the guy questions but he gave vague and weird answers that it made Naruto want to strangle the guy.

Visitors were scarce. And it seemed like even Kiba was up to his ears in work cause Naruto hadn't seen hide or hair of the guy since the of his accident. So it took him by surprise when Lieutenant Hatake walked into his room.

"Good afternoon, Officer Uzumaki," the lieutenant said with an affable smile.

"Uh, hey," Naruto said not knowing what else to say to the man that had never taken the time to even acknowledge him.

Hatake was one of the reasons that Naruto got a late start in his career. He was also the reason Naruto was still a beat cop. The man had a knack of jamming him up at every turn. But Naruto wasn't bitter. He just had a hard time trusting the reason behind the lieutenant's visit. A friendly visit from Hatake? Naruto would bet his left nut that it was about to turn into an inquisition.

"How are you feeling?" Kakashi said with that same kind smile that wasn't fooling Naruto.

"About as good as I look," Naruto said and shrugged.

The neck brace had been removed and his right arm was still in a brace. But some of the bandaging around his face had been removed. The cuts from the glass were more visible. But they were just scanned over. And the swelling had gone down. Most of the bruises had begun to fade into a light green. He looked a lot better than he did the first day.

"That bad, huh?" Kakashi said looking the officer over carefully. His smile was gone now and he had a serious expression going on.

"What? Do I really look so bad?" Naruto said surprised which surprised Kakashi and made him chuckle.

"Don't take my word for it," Kakashi said with a small smile. "I may be a bad judge on these sorts of things."

"Not just this," Naruto mumbled under his breath but Kakashi only pretended not to understand. "So what brings you by, Lieutenant Hatake?"

"Oh, just a friendly visit. Nothing for you to worry about."

Naruto frowned slightly but didn't respond.

"It's not every day you get to visit a hero."

Naruto decided it was best not to engage the man.

"You've been saving kittens since your first day on the job."

Kakashi smiled. Naruto pouted.

It was true that on his first day as a rookie cop Naruto saved a kitten and it had made headlines. But it wasn't as simple as Hatake made it out. He'd actually saved an elderly woman from being trampled when a riot broke out in front of her building. The woman made such a fuss about her kitten that Naruto had to rush the crowd just to get it and held the kitten up high in the air when he found it just so that the frantic woman wouldn't follow him into the crowd. Some hotshot took a picture of Naruto in uniform clearing the crowd with the kitten far from danger as a man was punching the living daylight out of another man behind him and some woman was getting her hair yanked in front of him. The picture was taken as some sort of joke but it went viral within minutes. The animal activists were all over it and Naruto was praised for helping the critter. No one seemed to care about the elderly woman. And everytime that Naruto was seen with a kitten in hand, someone snapped a photo and it made headlines. It was a running joke in the precinct but it never got Naruto down. And that wasn't the reason Naruto was seen as a hero and Hatake knew it. That asshole.

"I do have to wonder whether you came to be this way over a kitten."

"Excuse me?"

"Do you have a better explanation as to how it is that you walked into oncoming traffic unless there may have been a kitten you were saving?"

Kakashi was smiling again and Naruto's blood began to heat up.

"I take it there wasn't a kitten on the road?"

Naruto couldn't help the rise the man got out of him. There was already a history of bad blood and Kakashi knew it. And Naruto already knew that he'd lose to this man no matter what but he couldn't hold his tongue.

"Just spit it out already!"

"What exactly?" Kakashi said with a tilt to his head.

"Whatever accusation you're working up to! Just say it," Naruto practically hissed the words out. He just couldn't control his temper and the thought that he might lose his badge crossed his mind for a split second. This was the lieutenant after all. Naruto knew better than to disrespect him.

"Did someone make you do it?"

"Huh?"

"Maybe having Naruto the Hero in a life or death situation would distract the media from your boyfriend's role in a robbery and double homicide."

"My  _boyfriend_? Who the heck is that supposed to be?"

"Sasuke Uchiha," Kakashi said in a serious tone. "How long have the two of you been seeing each other?"

"I just only met the guy the other day," Naruto said grumpily.

"Really? And you just happen to be Sasuke's only alibi that coincidentally clears him from a double homicide because you hooked up with a guy you just met and allowed him to sleep in your bed all night?"

"So you're one of those wham bam thank you sir type a guy?" Naruto said with a slight pout under his breath.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at him.

"Even though I'm an orphan, I do have manners," Naruto told him testily.

The two only looked at one another for a beat and right when Kakashi was about to say something else, Naruto held up his left hand to stop him.

"If you're going to continue to question me about the company I keep and how I choose to keep it while I'm off the clock, I'd rather have my union rep present. Cause I can't see this conversation continuing without my fist in your smug face."

Kakashi didn't seem to happy about that but he waved a hand in front of his face as if he was telling Naruto to just forget what was implied just a second ago.

"Have you recalled the events that led to your accident?"

"If you want to know more about that, wait until my union rep is present or ask Detective Inuzuka or Gaara what I told them," Naruto said and tightened his lips. He just couldn't trust the guy for whatever reason.

But before either of them chilled the room further with their cold stares, a blue-haired nurse walked into the room. She was very pretty and Naruto had never seen her before. He was surprised she was able to pass up the officer on guard but he wasn't manning his post. Naruto should've known that Hatake would send him away so that they could speak privately.

"Naruto," the nurse said with a small smile. "I'm sorry to interrupt but it's time for your physical therapy."

"Yeah, of course, how could I forget?" Naruto said quickly. He knew that the session wasn't for another hour but he didn't care. He wanted to talk to his sergeant about Kakashi's inquiries. Something about the entire conversation just didn't feel quite right to him.

"Do you need help?" the nurse said as Naruto struggled to get his legs over to the side of the bed.

"Just a bit," Naruto said quietly. He normally would have refused the help. But the sooner he got away from Kakashi the better. "Konan, huh?"

Naruto pointed to her ID. The nurse smiled and nodded but didn't say anything else as she helped him into the wheelchair. Naruto left the room with the nurse without a word to Kakashi.

Kakashi just watched them go feeling angry about having underestimated Naruto's police instincts.

Once they were out of earshot, Naruto looked over his shoulder at the nurse.

"Listen, Konan, I know you're not one of the regular nurses on staff so maybe that's why you came early," Naruto said making Konan tense. "But I need you to get me to a phone. Preferably one on another floor."

"Sure, we can take the service elevator to avoid cameras," Konan said.

"Awesome!"

Konan smiled as she wheeled Naruto passed some double doors that only doctors and patients could cross before heading towards the service elevators.

"I guess it pays to know your way around, right?" Naruto said as he was wheeled into the elevator.

Konan hummed in response and pulled out a needle that had a sedative.

"I'm just glad you came when you did—"

Naruto caught Konan's reflection on the elevator door. He jerked to the side a little too late. Konan had stuck the needle into his arm. Naruto's entire body felt weak before his eyes closed. He was unconscious within seconds and Konan smiled.


	8. Conflict of interest

When Naruto woke, he took in his surroundings surreptitiously. He was tied to a chair but it was surprisingly comfortable plus his broken leg was propped up on an ottoman. He found that rather weird. He'd been kidnapped by the nicest criminals it seemed. The room he was in was a cell of sorts. It even had a two-way mirror. But it had all the amenities his own motel room held. What the everloving fuck?

 

There weren't any windows in the room or any markers of any kind to let him know where he was. But the why he was there would be answered as soon as the person who turned the knob entered the room.

 

“I see you're awake,” Konan said and smiled. “I wanted to know if there was anything I could do to make you more comfortable.”

 

Konan walked closer to Naruto and pointed at the bindings.

 

“Yeah, I wouldn't mind if you take these off,” Naruto said with a smile if his own.

 

“You're not planning a getaway now, are you?” Konan said in amusement.

 

Naruto pointed to his leg. “I doubt I'd get very far. Besides, you look like you can give me a good fight.”

 

“That I can,” Konan said and pulled out a pocket knife. She swiftly cut Naruto's bindings.

 

“Thanks!” Naruto grinned and then scratch his cheek as he looked around. “So, what’d you bring me here for? I doubt it was just to shoot the shit.”

 

“You don’t seem all that angry,” Konan said looking at Naruto curiously.

 

“I was bored out of my mind! Honestly, you did me a favor,” Naruto said with a nod. “And that damn Kakashi, he’s always trying to find a way to jam me up. Can’t stand that guy!”

 

“I see,” Konan said pensively. “But it isn’t for me to tell you. As soon as Yahiko gets back, he’ll let you know why you’re here.”

 

“Okay,” Naruto said slowly as he looked at Konan. “So this Yahiko guy is like your boss or something?”

 

“Yes,” Konan said with a small smile. “He has a plan that he needs you for, so I do hope that you decide to help us reach our goal.”

 

“Me or the Hero of Fire County?” Naruto said with a small pout.

 

“Well, if I have to be honest, your reputation is a big reason why Yahiko wanted to meet with you.”

 

“Then I guess I have no choice but to wait for Yahiko,” Naruto said and pointed at the TV. “You guys have cable on this?”

 

“No,” Konan said and when Naruto looked at her in surprise she giggled. “If you have something specific in mind…”

 

“Hmm,” Naruto said and scratched his cheek. “What about Breaking Bad?”

 

“Any season in particular?”

 

“Uh, depends, how long before Yahiko gets here?”

 

“We’ll start you off with season one just in case.”

 

“Cool,” Naruto said and smiled. “Pizza and beer sound good too.”

 

“Don’t press your luck, Naruto,” Konan said in a more serious tone. “You are a hostage after all. But I’ll see what I can do.”

 

“I appreciate it.”

 

Konan stepped out of the room and Naruto closed his eyes to think. If he couldn’t watch the news, maybe they could give him a newspaper. He could be clever and ask for a tabloid or something. Sometimes even those trashy magazines reported the current and semi-true news. And depending on what the name of the pizza place was, or the address on the box, he could figure out where he was. But first, he needed to find out who these people were and what the fuck they were up to. Not to mention the fact that he had to play along with them so that he could make it out safely. It was safe to assume they had problems with the Fire County Police since it seemed that Naruto not being on good terms with Kakashi seemed to spark Konan’s interest. Naruto just hoped that he could stay calm. It wasn’t going to be easy seeing that being someone’s hostage was worse than being stuck at the hospital. If he’d only known what the hell was going on back home before he was taken.

* * *

  


Sasuke heard an alert go off and he stood up to look at the video security monitor. It was Kakashi. He should've known that he'd come to get him. Outside the building were a few more officers but Kakashi and Sai were the only ones to come to his floor. Sasuke grabbed the memory stick and placed it in his mouth. If they took him in, they'd make him clear his pockets. But Sasuke didn't want anyone but his brother to look at the footage. He'd know what to do with it.

 

He heard Kakashi knock and identify himself as the police. Sasuke ignored him and looked through his desk drawer. He found some nicotine gum and popped one in his mouth. Then two more just in case. As he chewed the gum, he moved the memory stick around his mouth. He needed to wrap the small stick with the gum. He managed to do so before Kakashi and Sai burst through the door.  

 

“Sasuke, we have a warrant for your arrest,” Kakashi told him whilst pointing his gun at him. “Put your hands up where I can see them.”

 

Sasuke had been facing the door already and he lifted his left hand slowly. And flipped Kakashi off. Sai smiled and walked around Kakashi to have a look around. Sasuke's eyes followed Sai.

 

“We also have a search warrant,” Sai said with a smile that made his eyes close. Then he made his way over to the bedroom.

 

“Sasuke! I need you to put your hands up,” Kakashi said in a more severe tone.

 

Sasuke lifted his other hand and flipped Kakashi off. He stood there with both his middle fingers up. What was Kakashi going to do, force him into submission?

 

“Lieutenant, we have a deceased female in the bedroom,” Sai said slowly coming back.

 

“Sasuke, up against the wall. I will not tell you again!”

 

Sasuke ignored him and shifted his weight looking like he didn't give a fuck about the situation.

 

“Sasuke,” Sai said slowly and putting up a hand to stop Kakashi from moving forward. “I believe that the girl is the one you were visiting in the hospital. They teach us to tell loved ones that we’re sorry for their loss but… I never understood that term. Because no matter what we say, can we really make someone feel better about the death of another person?”

 

Sasuke simply stared at him. Sai walked towards him slowly with his hands up in the air. He removed his piece from the harness on his hip.

 

“Sai!” Kakashi said in alarm.

 

“It's okay, Lieutenant Hatake, you have my back,” Sai said with a smile in Kakashi's direction. Then he turned back to look at Sasuke as he laid his piece on the desk. “I don't know you, Sasuke. But I do know that every time we take you into the station in cuffs, you always manage to walk back out. I don't see why this time would be any different.”

 

Sasuke listened to what Sai said and realized that the man was right. So he slowly put his hands down keeping them away from his body and slowly turned around. Sai walked up to him and cuffed his hands behind his back.

 

“You know, when I was told by my CO that I had the knack of being persuasive, I wasn't really sure what he meant,” Sai said thoughtfully. Sasuke turned his head enough to look at Sai from a peripheral. “I looked it up and found out it means that a person is good at convincing someone else to do or believe something using reason or temptation. Since I don't know you very well, I wasn't sure what you found tempting so I tried to reason with you. And I have to agree with my CO. I am persuasive.”

 

“Enough, Sai,” Kakashi cut in sounding annoyed. “Take him to the precinct. I'll meet—”

 

Kakashi stopped talking when Itachi stepped into his brother’s apartment. Kakashi eyed him warily and raised an eyebrow. Itachi nodded at Kakashi and then turned to look at Sai who was turning Sasuke around to lead him out.

 

“What are you doing here, Itachi?” Kakashi finally asked.

 

“I was in the area, thought I’d come inside to feed the fish,” Itachi said smoothly.

 

“I didn’t see any fish, Sargeant Uchiha,” Sai said with a tilt of his head. He continued to move forward with Sasuke.

 

Itachi pointed to the small fish bowl on the bar. It was between a few bottles of liquor so it wasn’t readily seen but it was there all the same.

 

Both Kakashi and Sai looked over and raised their eyebrows in surprise.

 

“I see,” Kakashi said and looked at Itachi. “I suppose we were too preoccupied with the dead body in the bedroom to notice a little fish.”

 

“Hn.”

 

Itachi looked around but didn’t see anything out of place. The body must have been in plain view in the bedroom. He idly wondered who it was. He turned back to look at Sasuke who seemed uninterested in whatever was happening. Though his cheeks looked puffed out as if he were pouting like a small child.

 

Sasuke turned to look at his brother when he was only a few steps away and moved the wad of gum around in his mouth before he spat it out. It hit Itachi on the crotch, bounced off and landed on the floor. Itachi raised an eyebrow at him and Sasuke smirked then looked away schooling his expression.

 

Kakashi walked forward and bent down to pick up the gum with his gloved hand once Sasuke was out of the apartment but Itachi stopped him by grasping his wrist.

 

“Captain,” Itachi said picking up the gum with his other hand using a glove he pulled out of his pocket. “I got it.”

 

“That’s evidence.”

 

“Looks like a piece of gum,” Itachi said as he examined it but felt something hard within it when he picked it up. “If you need his DNA, you can take a swab back at the precinct.”

 

Itachi pocketed the gum and turned to walk out.

 

“I could use your eyes on this,” Kakashi said and Itachi stopped in the doorway.

 

“It’s a conflict of interest,” Itachi said looking over his shoulder. “He is my little brother after all.”

 

“Hmm,” Kakashi eyed him curiously. “I thought you were going to feed the fish.”

 

“It’s a decoration piece,” Itachi said sounding a little amused. “In other words, Captain, it’s not real.”

 

Kakashi looked over at the bowl and noticed that the fish was completely still. It was a snow globe made to look like a small fish tank. By the time he turned back around, Itachi was gone. He rubbed a hand over his face in frustration.

 

Sasuke sat in an interrogation room waiting for someone to walk in and question. Sai simply placed him in there. He didn’t speak to him during the entire drive there and didn’t say a word when he left him in the room. He had taken off his cuffs at least but other than that it was radio silence.

 

Sasuke tried not to think about anything that had happened. It wasn’t easy to do as he sat there alone. He needed answers or at least speculation from one of the detectives so that he knew more about what was going on. And when he finally felt like he was at his wit's end, the door opened and Sakura rushed inside.

 

“Sasuke!” she said with tears in her eyes. “Sasuke is it true?! Is Fū really dead?!”

 

Sasuke looked at her and didn’t even blink. She was still standing near the door and clutching at her chest. Her hands her cuffed which he found odd.

 

“Please, Sasuke,” she said in a low voice as she looked at the ground. She looked back up and shed a tear. “Tell me the truth, did you kill her?”

 

Sasuke still didn’t answer. She took a few steps forward but stayed a good distance from him.

 

“I know you wouldn’t have done something like that. I just know you wouldn’t! But please, tell me, Sasuke!” She fell to her knees and rested on her heels. “If you don’t fess up, they’ll take Sarada away from us! So please, tell me the truth!”

 

“From us?” Sasuke said and tilted his head to the side. “As far as I know, not even your parents knew that I was her father. Isn’t that what you told me?”

 

“I didn’t tell them, Sasuke! I didn’t! You have to believe me!”

 

“Just let Kakashi try and take her away,” Sasuke said and looked at the two-way mirror with a glare. “Maybe the courts will see you as an unfit mother since you prostitute yourself, but there’s no reason I can’t have custody.”

 

“Sasuke, I don’t—”

 

“No?” Sasuke said with a raised eyebrow. “All your job entails is to entertain your guest with company and conversation. But you always take it further, don’t you, Sakura?”

 

“That’s not true!”

 

“It is,” Sasuke said and leaned back in the chair. “Most of your clients were part of Leaf if I’m not mistaken. Even if you were just acting to play the part in front of the others, that’s not how it looks on video.”

 

“You,” Sakura said and stood up awkwardly because she couldn’t use her hands. “You had surveillance in the club?”

 

“Of course,” Sasuke said with a smirk. “Do you really think I wasn’t aware that you were working undercover for Kakashi? You think I wouldn’t remember you sitting beside him during my arraignment?”

 

“You knew, this whole time? You knew?!”

 

“What, do you really think your pregnancy was an accident?” Sasuke said with a shrug.

 

Though it wasn’t true, he had used a condom and he knew that what she was doing wasn’t for her case but because she actually had feelings for him. But he could never overlook the fact that she was working for Kakashi so no matter what feelings began to stir between them, he squashed them.

 

“No, that’s not true,” Sakura said and shook her head. This time the tears that spilled from her eyes were real. “I know that you felt something for me. I don’t know when you grew cold towards me but back then you did love me. I know it!”

 

When Sakura was able to control her sobs, Sasuke cleared his throat to get her attention.

 

“Itachi knows about Sarada,” Sasuke told her and Sakura looked up at him with wide eyes. “He’ll fight for custody in my stead if necessary. Kakashi could go fuck himself. And as for you, there’s the door, I’m done talking to you.”

 

“Sasuke, I…”

 

“Leave.”

 

Sakura gasped at the venom in his voice. But just then the door opened and an irate Kiba entered far enough to take Sakura by the arm and lead her out. He shot Sasuke a glare before he shut the door.

 

Sasuke inwardly sighed. He hated having to say all that to Sakura but Kakashi was playing with fire and Sasuke wasn’t about to get burned.

 

A few minutes later, Shikamaru walked into the room and sat in front of Sasuke. He looked bored and pulled out a file.

 

“There are a number of homicides that are being linked to you,” Shikamaru said and looked up to gauge Sasuke’s reaction. Though Sasuke didn’t do so much but looked at him with an unimpressed look. He had the perfect poker face. Shikamaru inwardly groaned. “This last one, though. Her name is Fū. How did she end up in your apartment?”

 

“I don’t recall asking for an attorney,” Sasuke told him.

 

“I was appointed to you—”

 

“By Kakashi?”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“Shikamaru Nara,” Sasuke told him. “At the age of twelve, you were inducted into the Leaf. You were assigned under Asuma Sarutobi, right?”

 

Shikamaru’s jaw tightened.

 

“Instead of enrolling in the police Academy when you became of age, you decided to go to school and study law. Your father, Shikaku Nara, the chief of police, quickly made a plan to use you within the precinct,” Sasuke said and crossed his arms across his chest. “I know exactly who you are, Shikamaru Nara; husband to Temari and father to Shikadai.” 

 

Shikamaru was now glaring at him but decided it was best not to say anything. 

 

“And I refuse your services.”

 

“You know, Sasuke,” Shikamaru said through tight lips as he gathered his things. He decided to be straightforward with Sasuke since he learned so much about his past. Sasuke didn’t have any reason to trust anyone especially when he was basically thrown to the wolves from a very young age. “You make this harder on yourself than you need to. Not that you care but Kakashi didn’t send me in here and my father has nothing to do with my line of work. But everything else you said was true. And I looked into you too. And Sakura. Turns out, your daughter and my son are classmates. She’s a good girl. As for you, I had come to believe that you were just always in the wrong place at the wrong time. But that’s neither here nor there now, is it?”

 

Shikamaru walked out closing the door behind him softly.

 

Sasuke inwardly groaned. He wasn’t sure what would happen next, but he wondered how long it would take Itachi to go over the video he passed to him.

 

“Sasuke Uchiha,” said a man from the door. “My name is Yahiko. I am a defense attorney and a retainer has been paid in advance on your behalf. I looked over the charges and you are free to go, follow me.”

 

Sasuke looked at him warily but stood up all the same.

 

But before he reached the door, Kakashi was standing there blocking the exit.

 

“Sasuke is not free to go,” Kakashi told him.

 

“Do you have any evidence to prove my client committed the crimes you are charging him for?”

 

“As a matter of fact, we have proof that he was with Fū at the time of her death,” Kakashi said and put a hand on his hip.

 

“Oh,” Yahiko said and pulled out a roll of bills he had in his pocket. He held the roll in an open palm for Kakashi to see. “You mean to say that the tracker you placed on these bills was with the girl at the time of her murder.”

 

“Where did you get that?” Kakashi said with a frown.

 

Sasuke eyed the roll of bills. Sakura had handed it to him at the hospital and he’d given it to Fū.

 

“From my other client,” Yahiko said in a serious tone. “Shibuki. He was with her when he was killed. He managed to get away before the assailants killed him too.”

 

Yahiko pulled out a folder and handed it to Kakashi.

 

“This is his testimony. Look it over,” Yahiko told him and frowned at him. “He is also suing your precinct for leading the murderers straight to Fū. You see, if it hadn’t been for this,” Yahiko twisted his wrist back and forth showing off the roll of bills, “they would have never been able to ambush them. You have a leak in your precinct, Captain Kakashi. Now if you’ll excuse me, my client and I will be leaving.”

 

Yahiko pushed passed Kakashi and Sasuke followed after him. But he made sure to glare at Kakashi as he passed him up.

 

“Sasuke?” Itachi said carefully when he saw him with Yahiko.

 

Sasuke didn’t say a word, he simply turned away from Itachi and kept walking. Yahiko had stopped to watch the exchanged but when Itachi didn’t say anything else, he easily caught up to Sasuke.

 

“Allow me to offer you a ride,” Yahiko said with a small smile and gestured to his car that was parked in front of the precinct. “There are a few things I’d like to discuss with you.”

 

“Fine.”

 

Sasuke got into the car and they drove off without looking back.


	9. Leave it to me!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not sure if I ever gave the club where Sasuke worked a name but I’m giving it one now. This chapter is meant to clear up a few things, or at least I’m hoping it does. It’s a little all over the place not following any sole character’s perspective. I’ve received a few reviews in which readers claim to be confused, but if there aren’t any specific questions left behind for me to answer, I can’t clear up any confusions. So if you do need something clarified, ask specific questions but if they are in relation to what happens next in the story, I can’t answer those questions since they will be answered as the story progresses. I write as a hobby, it’s not my profession. I’ve never even taken a writing class so I don’t get offended if someone finds my stories confusing. I’ve been told before I rush through scenes before. Or that I make the plot too complicated. I don’t do it on purpose. I just write the stories the way I see them play out in my head and try to put it into writing to the best of my ability.

 

Itachi watched his brother leave with Yahiko and he felt unsettled. He didn’t know who that person was but he was almost certain he’d seen him before in passing. One thing was certain, from the look his brother gave him, Sasuke was determined to go with the man. He looked over at Kakashi who seemed to be struggling with how the situation had unfolded.

 

“Shikamaru,” Kakashi said as he walked up to the other man who was returning some files to the clerk. “Do you happen to know who that man was?”

 

Shikamaru looked at him with a raised eyebrow as if asking him to clarify his question.

 

“The one who walked out with Sasuke,” Kiba said in annoyance. “He said he was a defense attorney.”

 

“No,” Shikamaru said and looked from Kakashi to Kiba. “Never seen him before. He may not be from Fire County.”

 

Neither man was satisfied with that response but there wasn't anything Shikamaru could do about that.

 

“Has anyone seen Gaara?” Kakashi asked as he looked around the main room.

 

“I’ll look into Yahiko, Captain,” Itachi said and ducked back into his office. He had a feeling of having seen the man before and that was bothering him. He was almost certain that the niggling feeling in the back of his mind didn’t lead to anything good.

 

“Shino,” Kakashi said.

 

“Yes, Captain.”

 

“I need you to find out where Gaara is.”

 

“Last I heard, he was looking into Naruto’s disappearance,” Shino told him. “I’ll check his desk for his notes. I’ll start here and get back to you as soon as possible, Captain.”

 

Kakashi nodded and tightened his fists. He’d been the last person to visit Naruto. And he knew exactly who’d taken him. What they didn’t know was who the blue-haired woman was. And she made certain to keep her face from the view of the cameras. All they had to go on was Kakashi’s description of her and a composite sketch.

 

“Captain, I found something interesting,” Neji said standing up from his desk and gathering a few papers from the printer. He handed them over to Kakashi.

 

“The property title to The Hive?” Kakashi asked. 

_The club Sakura and Sasuke work at? Why’d he look into this?_

 

“It’s owned by a shell company that was registered in Cloud County. The beneficial owner is Killer Bee,” Neji said and Kakashi turned to look at him in disbelief. Killer Bee’s brother was the Cloud County’s chief of police. “And he has a silent partner…”

 

Kakashi looked at him in expectation but then turned to the paperwork in his hands. He skimmed through it until he found the answer.

 

“Sasuke Uchiha.”

 

“But what does he have to do with Sasuke?” Kiba said confusedly. “Would Sakura or that Karin chick know?”

 

Kakashi looked at him but didn’t have an answer. Instead, he decided to call Shikaku. He suddenly had a hunch that there was something bigger happening than any of them could even begin to imagine. They needed to get in contact with Sand and Cloud to find out if anything was happening on their end.

 

“Have Lee debrief Sakura. And I need her to tell us everything she’s left out so far!”

 

“Captain, is she in some sort of trouble?”

 

Kakashi didn’t respond. But Sakura had crossed the line one too many times during the time she was undercover. She was too emotionally compromised to continue in undercover assignments and possibly even to continue on the force. He should have pulled her out when she got pregnant. But he believed her when she said she knew what she was doing and that it had been necessary.

 

“Try to get more information from Karin as well,” Kakashi said and frowned. “But I have a feeling she’s already told us everything she knows.”

 

Kiba nodded and walked back towards the interrogation rooms. Lee was already talking to Sakura but he knocked on the two-way to get him to come out.

 

“What can I do for you, Kiba?” Lee asked with concern.

 

“Kakashi wants a detailed report from her. Including what’s she left out from them in the past,” Kiba told him and Lee nodded.

 

“Leave it to me!” Lee said and pointed at the video recorder. “I’ve been recording everything she’s said so far.”

 

“Good,” Kiba said and tightened his fists. “I don’t know what that girl was thinking. I just hope it doesn’t cost her the job.”

 

“I feel the same way,” Lee said and turned to look at Sakura.

 

She was still crying and it broke his heart. But she’d been working undercover. She was never supposed to get emotionally invested in her target. Especially when she was meant to give enough evidence to place the target behind bars and cut all ties with him in the process. It was a good thing the target knew she was an undercover agent. Because from Lee’s viewpoint it seemed like Sasuke had done his best to cut ties between them in order to protect her from any backlash. He was a stand-up guy in Lee’s eyes. He only wished Sakura had realized that before she made herself out to look a fool. It was looking like she would lose her standing in the department. And there wasn’t anything anyone could do to protect her. She’d made her bed all on her own. Now all that was left was for her to lie in it.

 

“I need to get back in there.”

 

“Right,” Kiba said and went towards the interrogation room Karin was in with Kankuro. He decided to take over for the other man. Because if anyone knew where to find Gaara it would be his own brother.

 

Meanwhile, Shino found something interesting in Gaara’s notes. He’d made some sort of connection between the woman who’d taken Naruto to the man who’d accidentally run him over. It was starting to look like it wasn’t an accident.

 

“What have you found out so far?” Neji asked Shino.

 

“Nothing concrete so far,” Shino said handing over Gaara’s notes.

 

“From Rain?” Neji said. “Do you know anything about them?”

 

“They maintain their own government laws that differ from the others but as far as I know, they always refused sanctuary to any outsider. But this person, Deidara, who happened to be the very same one who hit Naruto was originally from Stone. His identification, however, listed him as a resident of Rain. And Gaara found surveillance video in the vicinity of the accident that placed the blue-haired woman in the same hotel Deidara was staying at.”

 

“Wait, who are these other people in the picture he printed out?”

 

“The redhead is the truck driver who almost hit Naruto. His name is Sasori. He was originally from Sand but is registered as a Rain resident. And the back of this person here, doesn’t it look like the man who left with Sasuke?”

 

“Does Gaara have a copy of the video?” Neji asked.

 

As they were looking at the video, Kankuro walked up to them. They briefed him about what they’d found out so far and he stiffened when he saw Sasori within the group. He told them that Sasori abandoned Sand years ago but that his whereabouts were never found.

 

Then they all saw Yahiko’s face clearly in the surveillance video. They looked at one another and Shino stood up to tell Kakashi.

 

“But why did Sasuke go with him easily? Did he already know him?” Neji asked Kankuro who simply shook his head. He had no idea. Neji looked at the notes once more to see if there were some clue as to where Gaara went but then he noticed a phone. “Is this Gaara’s cell?”

 

“No, that was with Naruto’s belongings in the hospital,” Kankuro told him.

 

“It's been charged,” Neji said and began to look through it.

 

There weren’t any contacts but there were plenty of pictures in an album labeled Akatsuki. The people that were in the surveillance video that Gaara found were also in the pictures. There were others as well. It looked like someone had been spying on them and snapped photos of them in various locations that put them in the vicinity where certain crimes took place. Every picture was dated. But it was clear that the group was often seen in pairs. Then Neji found a file on the phone that listed each member, their names, previous affiliation, what skills they had, and what they all had in common was that they were all members of the Akatsuki. A group of outlaws that was founded in Rain but did business where they saw fit.

 

The last picture that was taken was of Konan wearing a nurses uniform and speaking to Orochimaru within the walls of the General Hospital where the man had died and Naruto had been abducted from.

 

Neji looked at Kankuro and told him to keep searching for clues about Gaara’s whereabouts. He had to hand the phone over to Lieutenant Uchiha. He walked with purposeful steps and knocked on Itachi’s office door.

 

“Come in,” Itachi said as he was looking over some footage that his little brother had provided him with. He paused the video having seen enough and took the phone Neji handed to him. “What’s this?”

 

“Yahiko is on there. And so is the woman who took Naruto. Her name is Konan and they're both members of the Akatsuki. Take a look at the file,” Neji told him and Itachi skimmed through all the data in less time it took him to do so.

 

“Where did you get this?” Itachi asked.

 

He’d already found out that Yahiko was from Rain and that he truly was a defense attorney but other than that, there wasn’t much more information on the man. And Itachi did remember seeing him years before walking out of Danzo’s office back when he was still young and being forced to leave Sasuke on his own to go on an undercover assignment for Danzo.

 

“It was within Naruto Uzumaki's belongings,” Neji said.

 

Itachi's eyes widened. There had been a surveillance video shot from a weird angle showing someone throwing an item to Naruto right before his accident. It had been assumed that it was Kabuto since Naruto had been in pursuit of him at the time. But Kabuto was careful to stay out of the camera’s view. And the item in question wasn’t clearly seen in the video. From the scratches that were on the surface, it was safe to assume that it was on Naruto’s person when he was hit by the car. But the question truly was…

 

“Why would Kabuto give Officer Uzumaki all this information? Why him when he isn’t a detective? And right before he was almost assassinated by the very people he was being warned about.”

 

“Maybe he was a fan?” Neji hedged carefully.  

 

Itachi looked at him and the corner of his lip lifted in amusement.

 

“Perhaps. But it doesn’t seem like the officer received the warning on time.”

 

“I think he was trying to point Naruto towards Orochimaru...maybe a last-ditch effort to save the man from harm and it was out of his hands to do so?”

 

“What does Orochimaru have to do with this?”

 

“Look at the last photo in the album labeled Akatsuki.”

 

Itachi stared at the last photo in disbelief. Orochimaru had been playing with fire and it cost him his life. Not only that but there was enough information on the phone and the surveillance video Sasuke gave him to prove his brother’s innocence of most of the crimes he had been accused of. It turned out Akatsuki had been framing him all along. But to what end?

 

“I need to speak to the Captain.”

 

Yahiko still had a tracker on him that could lead the detectives directly to him, this Konan woman, Sasuke, and Naruto. Because it was clear to Itachi that all of them were going to end in the same place. Rain.

 


	10. Sacrificial Lamb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it took me a while to figure out how to write what Yahiko was planning in dialogue form. This is only part one, the next part will include Sasuke's answer to Yahiko's plan.

"I take it that you're Yahiko," Naruto said when a man entered the room he was being kept in. "I was told that you brought me here so that we could talk about some sort of plan of yours."

"A plan? You say it so casually," Yahiko said as he walked closer to Naruto. He grabbed a chair and sat down placing his elbows on his knees, he leaned forward and clasped his hands together. "Tell me what you know of these people that you risk your life to protect."

"What do you mean? Are you saying that I'm an idiot for becoming a cop to protect people? Or are you simply against the law that we are sworn to uphold?"

"I never said such a thing. This world that we live in would fall apart without laws and government. What I want to know is whether or not you truly believe that the people themselves are worth risking your life for."

"Of course, I do!"

"And why is that?"

"Because every life is precious."

"I see," Yahiko said and smiled. He leaned back and placing his palms on his knees. "Do you believe that my life is precious?"

"Yes."

"But you don't know anything about me or what I've done."

"It doesn't matter. Nobody has the right to take the life of another."

"Not even a police commissioner?"

"Why do I get the feeling that you're playing some sort of mind game with me?"

Yahiko chuckled. "Well, at least you're clever. I'll give you that."

"So, why am I here?"

"You're the Hero of Konoha and have proven time and time again that you are willing to risk your life for the sake of others," Yahiko said and Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly at him. "I want to offer you a job as my right-hand man."

"I already have a job," Naruto said and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yes, you do. But I wonder if you want to continue to work under a corrupt system."

"And your system isn't corrupt?" Naruto said and his lips turned down slightly. "You kidnapped me just to have a little chat. Don't you consider that corrupt? I hardly see the point of exchanging one corrupt system for another."

Yahiko began to chuckle again and stood up. He went to the door. When he opened it, Konan was standing there with a few files in her hand. Yahiko took them from her and proceeded to hand one to Naruto.

Naruto looked through the file and couldn't keep the emotions from flitting across his face.

"How do I even know that any of this is true?!"

"Think about it, Naruto," Yahiko said lowering his tone and sitting back down. Konan stood beside him. "You have never been given a fair shot ever since you were a kid. You tried to enter the youth gang unit just to be turned away. And when you were finally old enough to get into the police academy, your application was turned away until Hiruzen Sarutobi intervened on your behalf. How many times did you fail the examination due to bias instructors?" Yahiko looked at him with a serious expression. Any and all humor that had been in his eyes was gone. "It hasn't been easy for you to maintain a good standing in the precinct either, has it? Everything you do or say is criticized. Any medals or honors you receive were only given to you after many appeals from the few who actually believe you deserve them were taken into consideration. You've even been held back from being promoted—"

"I have never asked to be promoted. I like working the beat. I'm closer to the people I'm supposed to protect."

Yahiko nodded. "You have a good heart but it isn't enough, Naruto. Not when the very people you would risk your life for could turn on you simply on the whim of your employers. As you read in that file, the very people you trust your career and life to are the very same that took your family away. The same that keep holding you back."

Yahiko stayed quiet for a moment allowing the words to sink in. But all Naruto did was grit his teeth and tightened his fist on the file.

"Danzo is dead."

"But so is Hiruzen. And wasn't he your biggest supporter besides Jiraiya? Last I heard, he died. The reasons that were given for his death were false. You hold the truth in your hands. If it wasn't for that corrupt system, he'd still be alive today."

It took a moment for Naruto to calm down. Everything Yahiko was saying and what he'd read in the files had upset him. But, he wasn't going to let this man manipulate him or his emotions.

"If the system is corrupt, I'll fix it!"

"How do you plan to do that?"

Naruto didn't say anything because he didn't have an answer.

"We live our lives by following the law, and those laws have to be upheld by men with guns... But what happens when the world finds out that those men twist the law to their own advantage?" Yahiko handed over the other files to Naruto. He skimmed through them. Corruption was underlined in every single one. It wasn't just Konoha but the surrounding counties as well. "People need to know the truth."

"Are you planning to expose all these secrets? For what purpose? What are you getting out of it?"

"You're afraid of that truth being exposed, Naruto. And you have the right to be. The world isn't ready for it because deep down they want to believe in things like honor, code, and loyalty. People want to feel protected. Without the men and their guns who offer that protection, they would be afraid to go on about their days. They'd cower in their homes if they'd see even a glimpse of what you've seen. Or what I've seen. Most people are content to never face reality."

"And what reality is that?"

"That at any given moment their very protectors are capable of  _anything_."

Naruto simply stared at Yahiko. He knew that what he was saying was true and even though he didn't want to believe what was in those files, he knew that they weren't lies. Most of what was in the files had been the basis of many conspiracy theories. If people were to know that they were actually true, chaos would ensue.

"What is your plan?"

"I plan to expose the truth."

"But why?! You know what will happen!"

"That's why I need you on my side, Naruto," Yahiko told him and stood up. He turned away from Naruto for a moment and Naruto could see Yahiko's back tense and relax. When he turned back around, he was smiling. "If the world sees that a hero is willing to tear down a corrupt system, they won't fear the new system that will come up in its place. It won't scare them to see those same officials who corrupted the system pay for their crimes."

"But if you do that, you'll start a revolution. Even if I stand at your side, it doesn't mean that there won't be others willing to take advantage of the situation. I could never stand beside you and watch innocent people die simply because you feel like challenging the system that is already in place! Your plan will simply create many more victims than the ones listed in these files!"

"More victims? Don't be naive, Naruto. The world is full of innocent victims. You and me, we're simply a small part of them. Do you really feel compassion for those who've taken innocent lives simply to gain more power?! They are still taking lives as we sit here and speak! What will a few more lives matter when we can fix it so that there aren't any more lives lost for that purpose?"

"You can't be serious? You're a walking contradiction," Naruto said and shook his head. "You want to do the same thing that you're condemning them for! The only difference is that you want to do it on a grander scale! And you'll end up being the cause of mass murder!"

Yahiko closed his eyes for a moment and when he looked at Naruto again he scoffed.

"You simply can't see it," Yahiko said and shook his head. "The end result. You can't even imagine it. It's like I'm trying to show paradise to a blind man."

"The road to paradise shouldn't be bathed in the blood of innocent people," Naruto told him with a deep frown. "I can see your plan far clearer than you can and there is no way that I would ever stand beside you as you make it happen!"

"So naive," Yahiko said and shook his head. He turned to walk away and then over his shoulder, addressed Konan. "Take him with the others. Since he'd rather be a sacrificial lamb."


	11. Die!

Sasuke was sitting in a room with Suigetsu and Jugo waiting for Yahiko to return. When they'd arrived, Yahiko had shown him inside and told him to make himself at home. He even expected Sasuke to be happy that the other two were there waiting for him. But once inside, it had been painfully obvious that the room he was in was no different than a holding cell, sans the bars. But unfortunately, bad company was included. The worse part had been that he didn't remember the drive. He'd fallen asleep only a few blocks away from the precinct. The last thing he remembered was Yahiko offering him a bottled water. When he woke up, they were in a garage and there was no way of knowing where in world he was or how long he'd slept. According to Suigetsu and Jugo, the two weren't there on their own accord, they'd been taken by surprise and they didn't even know how long they'd been held captive or why they were there.

Suigetsu was nervous and said that they weren't allowed to leave the room. He told Sasuke that the people that abducted them were most likely the very same that had killed Tayuya and the others. What he didn't understand was why they were still alive. And then he asked about Karin. When he did, Sasuke couldn't help the glare he shot at him which made Suigetsu shrink back and almost hide behind Jugo.

"Where is she, Sasuke?" Jugo asked curiously but also with a hint of worry.

Sasuke sighed. "Last I heard, she was throwing me under the bus at the precinct."

"No, that's not possible," Suigetsu said and waved his hands in front of his face. "There's just no way that she would do that to  _you_  of all people!"

"I don't believe she'd do that either," Jugo said and closed his eyes.

Sasuke sat down and decided he didn't care one way or the other. Whatever Karin had said or didn't say, he wasn't under Konoha's custody any longer and according to Yahiko, there wasn't any evidence that they could hold against him. Not to mention, he hadn't committed the crimes that they'd been accusing him of. But he hadn't forgotten what was done to Fū. After everything that had happened, Sasuke was hard pressed to trust Yahiko. Not that he had. He was simply curious about the man and his motives. It had never crossed his mind that Yahiko could be the one that had orchestrated the fall of Sound. If Suigetsu was right about who was behind their capture, it meant that Yahiko was the one who'd ordered Fū's death. And he finally understood why the girl was left on his bed. She'd undergone a brutal death and then carefully cleaned and prepared just for him. The message was clear, Yahiko was dangerous and he was far more sinister than Orochimaru had been.

"Listen," Sasuke said as he looked at the other two. "Whatever happens from here on out, I need you both to do as I say." Suigetsu looked at him nervously and turned to see what Jugo would say. But the man simply nodded. "Got it, Suigetsu?"

"Uh," Suigetsu said and looked at the other two who were both giving him the same unreadable expressions. "Fine. I get it. We follow your lead."

"I don't want to hear a word of complaint, understand?" Sasuke said and looked around the room to the various paintings on the wall.

Suigetsu understood right away that they were under surveillance. He hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary but now that he was looking, it was obvious. He nodded and so did Jugo. But Suigetsu would go stir crazy if he wasn't allowed to talk.

"Can we at least play poker?" Suigetsu said pointing to the cards on the table.

"Do what you want," Sasuke said uninterested.

"Come on," Suigetsu said forgetting his nerves and readying himself to annoy Sasuke. Just because he couldn't talk about his captors, it didn't mean he couldn't talk about anything else. "It won't be any fun if it's just me and Jugo."

"Who said I wanted to play?" Jugo told him making Suigetsu laugh.

"I can't play strip poker alone," Suigetsu said and sat at the table. He began to shuffle the cards. "Come on, Jugo. Let's see which one of us can get Sasuke to undress first."

Jugo looked over at Sasuke making Suigetsu chuckle. He always knew how to goad the other man. Sasuke felt his gaze and looked up at them both.

"You're both idiots," Sasuke said and stood up making his way over to them with a smirk on his face. If they wanted to challenge him, he wouldn't deny them the chance. Besides, it was always best to keep Suigetsu busy lest he start blabbering about unnecessary things. But there was one thing Suigetsu was very good at, he was a master of distractions.

It wasn't very long before Yahiko came into their room. Suigetsu was down to his boxers, Jugo was only wearing a pair of pants, and Sasuke was fully dressed with a satisfied smirk on his face since Suigetsu had lost another hand. Yahiko smiled at them and gestured for Sasuke to follow before Suigetsu was forced to remove his last article of clothing. Suigetsu pouted but otherwise didn't say anything as he watched Sasuke leave with the other man. Jugo simply told him to reshuffle the cards. They were all on edge and it wouldn't do any of them any good to start freaking out before they found out what it was that their captors wanted from them.

Suigetsu and Jugo played a few more hands but by the time Konan came to get them, they were both fully dressed having forgone strip poker sometime before. She told them to follow her and they both looked at one another warily but complied nonetheless. They weren't sure but they had a hunch that they were being led to wherever Sasuke was.

When they saw Sasuke, they were standing in front of a cell. Inside were a handful of men. if Suigetsu wasn't mistaken, Bee was one of them. And also…

"No fucking way!" Suigetsu exclaimed cutting off whatever Yahiko was saying to Sasuke. "That's Naruto the fucking Hero of Konoha! Hahahaha! Never thought I'd get to meet you!"

"Suigetsu," Sasuke said in annoyance. Couldn't he see what was happening around him?

"Hey, what's up man?" Naruto said with a grin from where he was sitting on the ground. Gaara was standing beside him giving an evil glare to Suigetsu and the others.

"But...why are you in...there?" Suigetsu said and then grimaced when he finally took in the atmosphere.

"Learn to read a room, moron," Sasuke told him and closed his eyes trying to rid himself of all the stress that was trying to overtake him. How the hell did he always end up in these situations?

"As I was saying," Yahiko told Sasuke after a beat. "I need proof that you are truly on our side."

Sasuke simply looked at Yahiko from the corner of his eye. Suigetsu tensed up and looked over at Naruto and grimaced. He recognized the others as Rōshi from Stone, Gaara from Sand, Utakata from Mist, Killer Bee from Cloud. What the hell? It was a cell full of heroes! And they were all chained at the ankles and wrists!

Jugo moved aside when Konan offered a knife to Yahiko.

"Hey, whoa! What the fuck are you going to do?! You can't kill them! They're—you know—heroes!" Suigetsu protested and made to lunge at Yahiko but Sasuke stopped him by grabbing his arm and tugging him towards him. "But Sasuke…".

Sasuke simply gave him a stern glare.

"Ah, fine, what the fuck do I care?" Suigetsu said with a pout and crossed his arms over his chest. Jugo let out a little sigh of relief. Suigetsu looked away trying to avoid looking at the men in the cell.

"It's good that you can keep them in line," Yahiko said with a small smile. "Otherwise…"

He left the word hanging but Suigetsu didn't miss the threat and he tensed up.

"I told you before, Sasuke," Yahiko said and pulled out a roll of bills from his pocket. The same roll of bills that had a tracker. Sasuke wondered whether or not the signal was still on, or perhaps they were too far away and Yahiko didn't need to worry. Either way, he thought it was reckless of the man to still have that on him. "We need funding before we go forth with my plan." He tossed the roll of bills to Sasuke who caught it easily and stuffed it in his pocket. "Robbing banks will take too long. But a ransom will not only be better but more efficient. We've already received a good sum from Taki in exchange for Shibuki. Sadly, Fū had to be sacrificed in order for them to take us seriously."

Sasuke's jaw tightened but he didn't say anything.

"And it looks like none of the other counties are willing to comply," Yahiko said and gestured to those he had in the cell. "So it's time we make an example out of one of them. They're already getting bad press for not being able to protect their heroes. Let's find out what will happen when one of them is actually killed."

Yahiko gestured to the cell and Konan walked over and pulled Rōshi out. The man didn't say a word, he was as silent as the others. They had all been given the same ultimatum. Either they join Yahiko and his ridiculous plan for revolution or they become sacrifices. They had all made up their minds and were not going to let the man intimidate them. They didn't think he would succeed and when left alone, they brainstormed about various ways they could escape. So far, they had not come up with anything. They thought they had more time, but it looked like it was running out faster than they thought it would.

"Heyo!"

"Deidara," Yahiko said as he watched two of his companions draw nearer. Deidara and Sasori. They'd executed their part of the plan almost flawlessly. "You're back."

"Yeah, the boss sent a message along, ...hmm?" Deidara said and looked over into the cell. When he saw Naruto he beamed. "So you did survive, ha! For a moment there, I thought I'd killed you!"

Naruto looked at the other man and tilted his head to the side curiously. He had no idea who he was.

"He's the idiot that ran you over," Gaara said and looked at the two men. "I found out a little too late that it was all orchestrated."

"I guess that makes you a bad detective the, hmm?" Deidara said and grinned.

"Stop antagonizing the prisoners," Sasori said in a slow drawl. "Let them have at least a little peace before they're killed."

Deidara began to chuckle. "Oh, so, are you killing this one?"

"Not me, Sasuke will do the honors," Yahiko said and stretched out his hand towards Sasuke.

Sasuke simply looked at Yahiko but made no move to take the blade. And he hadn't missed what Deidara had said. He mentioned a boss, so that meant that there was someone above Yahiko calling the shots.

"Sasuke, are you backing out of our deal?" Yahiko said in a low threatening voice.

"Who is this boss that he mentioned?" Sasuke said gesturing to Deidara.

"I'll let you know after you prove your allegiance," Yahiko told him and moved his hand a little.

Sasuke still didn't make a move to take the blade. He was not going to kill a man just because he was being ordered by some nobody. He looked away from Yahiko and closed his eyes.

"Hmm, I see," Yahiko said.

Konan had locked up the cell and Rōshi noticed that everyone was distracted, so he decided to die fighting. He'd already dislocated his thumb and he slipped his hand out of the restraints on his wrist and lunged at Konan. The others were too far away. But even so, they were quick. In a few short moves, Rōshi had punched Konan in the jaw and Sasori had grabbed him from behind just as Deidara elbowed him in the back of the neck successfully knocking the man out.

Naruto and the others held their breath. Sasuke tightened his fists when he sensed that Jugo was becoming agitated.

"Konan—!"

"I'm alright," she said as she stood up slowly. A hand gingerly pressed to her jaw that was bruising something fierce.

"Bring him here," Yahiko said upset and Sasori dragged the limp body over to Yahiko. "Sasuke, I will not tell you again."

Deidara grinned and pulled out a gun. He aimed it at Sasuke. No one noticed Jugo grinning, but Sasuke was eying the man from the corner of his eye.

"I can't do that," Sasuke and looked at Yahiko not explaining anything else.

Suigetsu groaned and grabbed the blade that Yahiko was offering. In a blink of an eye, he had slit Rōshi's throat. The splatter of blood reached Sasuke and Yahiko, but the majority of it was on Suigetsu.

"Everyone happy now?" Suigetsu said angrily with a face, neck, and hands covered in blood.

Yahiko quirked an eyebrow and then he turned to look at Sasuke when he heard the man sigh.

Jugo began to laugh maniacally. Everyone tensed for a moment. Deidara and Sasori took a few steps back. Even Yahiko moved away and gestured for Konan to do the same. But Jugo ignored them all and walked up to Suigetsu before he had time to react. He wrapped a hand around Suigetsu's throat and squeezed.

"Sa-sa-su-ke," Suigetsu said as he flailed in Jugo's grasp. He kept trying to pry Jugo's hands away but he wasn't strong enough. "Guuhhh."

Jugo was still laughing. "It's my turn to kill! My turn!"

"Sasuke," Yahiko said as he watched Suigetsu struggle. He was turning blue.

"Do you understand why I refused now?" Sasuke said and slowly walked up to Jugo while everyone watched.

"He's dying! Do something, you bastard!" Naruto said in shock.

Gaara moved to block his view. It wasn't a good idea for them to get involved. Especially having seen them kill Rōshi without even an inkling of remorse.

Suigetsu was still trying to say Sasuke's name and Naruto didn't understand why the other man wasn't doing anything to help. Sasuke simply side-eyed him but didn't reply.

Deidara cocked his gun and Jugo turned his attention to him.

"Hey, man, it's cool, hmm?" Deidara said putting his hand down nervously.

Jugo simply laughed and looked at Suigetsu again. "Die!"

"Sasuke," Yahiko said warily seeing Sasuke come into Jugo's line of sight.

"Jugo," Sasuke said in an angry tone and glared at Jugo who began to whimper. He slowly loosened his grip but hadn't let go of Suigetsu. "Release him."

Jugo let go of Suigetsu who slumped to the ground coughing like crazy.

"Sasuke," Jugo said in horror and he looked at his hands that were covered in blood.

"You didn't kill anyone it was Suigetsu," Sasuke said and gestured for him to follow. He looked over his shoulder at Yahiko. "I'm taking him to get him cleaned up. Unless you have a problem with that."

Jugo followed him looking very distraught.

Yahiko didn't say anything but Konan followed them so that she could lock up the room once they were inside.

"Sasuke, you bastard!" Suigetsu called out after them in a gravelly voice as he stood and staggered to follow. "You could have called him off sooner."

"You had another minute to spare," Sasuke said simply.

Suigetsu began to cough again but even so, he glared at Sasuke.

"You hadn't even turned purple yet."

"You sadistic asshole."

"Deidara, Sasori, clean this up," Yahiko said and gestured to Rōshi's dead body and the blood on the floor and walls. "And what was that message you were supposed to relay?"

"Ah, that's right," Deidara said casually as if nothing of note had just happened. "The boss will arrive in the morning with the others."

"Good to know."

Sasuke turned back to look at Yahiko who was walking away and turning into a hallway. He had to come up with a plan and execute it before morning. If they were lucky, it was only Yahiko and the three others who were in the building. And he didn't want to be around when the boss and the others came along. So far he hadn't seen the pair that had gone on a killing spree in the club. And he didn't think it was wise to wait around for them to arrive.

Naruto, Gaara, and the others looked at one another wondering who of them would be next to be called over to be eliminated. Time was up and they still didn't know what to do to get out of the mess they were in. But one thing was certain, they weren't going to give in and comply with Yahiko's demands.


	12. Stay calm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I left a warning back in chapter seven about the direction this fic was heading in. You had a small taste of it last chapter. 
> 
> This chapter will be broken up into two parts. I'm writing the scenes raw to tone them down. 
> 
> *mature scenes and triggers*

“Naruto, you need to stay calm,” Gaara told him with a serious expression once the others had disappeared from sight. However, he was talking in a low voice just in case.

“I am calm,” Naruto hissed through his teeth.

“That little outburst of yours could have backfired on all of us,” Utakata said with his eyes closed. “Why did you even react that way? You didn’t make a peep when Rōshi was killed.”

“That’s so very true, Rōshi was one of us you fool,” Killer Bee said in rhyme.

Naruto rubbed his face in frustration.

“I know that, but Rōshi knew what was coming and he was willing to put his life on the line. But that guy, he wasn’t happy about what was happening. He just did that to protect himself and his friends. He didn’t have time to think anything through. And then for him to just be attacked like that for no reason…”

They all stayed quiet in understanding. They had all been labeled as heroes for something they did with little thought. They had acted on impulse to protect innocent lives without a care to what would’ve happened to them. But they had sworn their lives to protect the innocent. It wasn’t the same to be a civilian and do something of that nature as it was for a cop. It was expected of a cop to take a risk. Yet, even still, most of them didn’t go beyond what was expected of them. Those who did were awarded badges of honor. It was only a small minority that were labeled as heroes. And the few of them who had were sitting together in that cell. So even though Suigetsu took the life of one of them, it wasn’t out of malice. It was as Naruto said, he was trying to protect the lives of his friends. No matter what, Rōshi would’ve been killed and the man was aware of his fate. And yet, none of them felt what Naruto did for Suigetsu. They wouldn’t have cared if Jugo had killed him. After all, he was the one who had taken Rōshi’s life. It would’ve felt like justice. But there was no justice in the place they were. And they all needed to keep their heads so that they could figure out a way to warn their respective counties of the shitstorm that was coming.

Bee suddenly snapped his fingers. The others looked at him with raised eyebrows. But Bee just smiled as he pulled out a pen and paper.

“I came up with the perfect rhyme, I just hope I can write it in time,” Bee said and then clicked the top of the pen. He smiled as he wrote gibberish.

Gaara noticed that the pen Bee had wasn’t a normal pen. On the side, it had a window that displayed not the time but coordinates.

“Remember what you told me,” Naruto said tapping Gaara’s leg.

Gaara looked at him and nodded. He needed to stay calm. They had time to think. And they at least had a little more knowledge than they had a few moments before. Even though Gaara had already known where Konan was from, now they knew with all certainty that they were in Rain.

* * *

Sasuke leaned in towards Suigetsu and took his earlobe into his mouth.

The three of them were in the bathing area, having stripped and washed their bodies clean of Rōshi’s blood. Sasuke was certain that even in the bathing area they were being watched so he decided to lure Yahiko there. Having seen the many piercings on the man coupled with the fact that he seemed to enjoy watching others suffer, Sasuke took the gamble and decided to put on an act. Jugo and Suigetsu followed Sasuke’s lead without complaint as per requested.

“Karin was right, you taste foul,” Sasuke said in a low timber right in Suigetsu’s ear with a smirk tugging the edge of his mouth.

“Fuck you,” Suigetsu whispered back as he licked the water trickling down Sasuke’s neck. “Oh, hell. If this is how your neck tastes let me suck your dick. I bet it tastes twice as good.”

“Is that what you really want?” Sasuke said and pushed Suigetsu away from his body with his hands on the other’s shoulders. He then proceeded to push him down so that Suigetsu was kneeling before him.

Suigetsu looked at Sasuke’s dick then back up at his face and smiled. But Sasuke stuck his thumb in Suigetsu’s mouth before he said anything stupid.

“If you want it that bad, you need to put on a good show,” Sasuke said then looked back at Jugo who was giving Suigetsu an indescribable look.

Sasuke felt the pressure of Suigetsu’s teeth on his thumb and he turned back to look at him. Suigetsu was grinning and he bit down harder. Though Sasuke didn’t flinch he did hiss. He stared at the other man until a trickle of blood dripped down Suigetsu’s chin.

Sasuke took hold of Suigetsu by the chin and pulled him up forcing Suigetsu to release his thumb. Once Suigetsu was right in front of him, Sasuke licked the blood off of Suigetsu’s chin and didn’t stop until his tongue had entered the mouth of the other. They kissed for a moment then Sasuke pushed him away again just to see that Suigetsu’s cock was standing in attention.

“Jugo,” Sasuke said and ran a finger down Suigetsu’s cock. “Choke him until he comes.”

Jugo nodded and slowly made his way towards Suigetsu.

“Hey, wait a minute—” Suigetsu said nervously. It was true that he’d agreed to do anything Sasuke said but his throat was still raw from the last time.

Suigetsu stopped talking when Jugo wrapped his hands around his throat.

“Suigetsu, what are you waiting for? If you don’t come, he won’t stop,” Sasuke said with a small smile and Suigetsu took hold of his half erect cock. But Sasuke leaned in to whisper in his ear. “I wouldn’t mind seeing you turn purple this time.”

Goosebumps ran up Suigetsu’s spine just as his cock hardened. But the pressure on his throat made it hard for him to breathe. And he felt lightheaded.

Sasuke helped him pump his cock a few times making sure to caress the tip circling the cock hole with his nail before he stepped back.

“Don’t let go until he comes.”

Suigetsu began to pump himself and he couldn’t help but look right at Sasuke who was slowly palming his own cock. He tried to breathe and his lungs were screaming for air. Suigetsu jerked himself faster. He couldn’t do anything but wish for his happy ending before it was too late. And Jugo added more pressure every few seconds that passed. It was downright painful. But the water running down his body and Sasuke’s eyes on him coupled with the feel of his own hand pumping his cock made him that much more excited. He came hard and his vision darkened at the edges. He could swear he saw fireworks. Then he was down on his knees gasping for air and coughing. His hand went to his throat automatically with the need to ease the pain that was still there pulsing on his neck.

“Hmm? Looks like he came before he passed out,” Deidara said from the doorway.

“That’s too bad,” Sasori said. “But there are other ways to make him pass out.”

Deidara chuckled making Suigetsu swallow nervously.

“Sasuke, it’s a bit too crowded in here,” Yahiko said from the bedroom but in Sasuke’s line of sight. He gestured for Sasuke to follow and Sasuke did after he threw on a yukata from the ones provided for them. And even though he was covered up, his erect cock was still visible since it protruded behind the thin fabric.

Sasuke hid his wariness of Yahiko well by forcing himself to look confident. His strides were sure and his head was high. He didn’t bother to look over at Yahiko while the other man studied him. Sasuke was the picture of ease and Yahiko smiled.

“I am very pleased that you decided to join our cause,” Yahiko told him and Sasuke looked at him from the corner of his eye. “There’s more to discuss but first, how about we have some fun? We do have until morning, after all.”

“Hn.”

They went into Yahiko’s room where Konan was waiting. When she saw them walk in, she poured a couple of cups of tea. She set them on the coffee table and was about to walk out of the room but Sasuke caught her wrist preventing her from leaving.

“I’d rather you stay,” Sasuke said in his deep baritone.

“Are you trying to make me jealous, Sasuke?” Yahiko teased making Sasuke smirk in his direction.

“Didn’t you promise some fun?” Sasuke said as he pulled Konan flush to his body. Her back against his chest and his cock pressing the small of her back.

Konan didn’t say a word and she didn’t fight Sasuke’s hold. Instead, she waited to see what Yahiko would say.

“I did,” Yahiko said and his tone darkened.

Sasuke kept his hold on Konan’s arm and his other hand slipped up her waist and cupped her breast. He squeezed it slowly adding pressure until it was only her nipple he was pinching. Konan winced and Sasuke let out a breath right at her ear.

“So you do have a piercing,” Sasuke said pulling on it slightly. Konan let out a small cry of pain.

“It’s not the only one she has,” Yahiko told him while he kept his eyes on Sasuke’s hand.

Sasuke looked at the man with a raised eyebrow.

“I thought as much,” Sasuke said releasing the woman and walking up to Yahiko. He slipped a hand under the man’s shirt, exploring his navel where he found a piercing. “Hmm, interesting.”

“I don’t have any on my nipples,” Yahiko said with a smirk. Sasuke’s hand traveled down and Yahiko let out a huff of laughter as he undid his pants to give Sasuke easier access. “Wouldn’t you rather see?”

“Hn.” Sasuke looked over his shoulder to Konan and gestured for her to come closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I posted a pic of Sasuke in a yukata on my ko-fi page.


	13. Have you ever wrestled with a raging bull?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *mature scenes and triggers*

Sasuke was positioned behind Konan on their bed. He had his legs wrapped around her waist and was pushing her thighs apart with his heels. He was balls deep inside of her. She hadn’t needed to be prepared. It seemed like anal was a favorite for Yahiko. And Konan was submissive by default. It seemed odd to Sasuke, she was a strong-willed woman. The fact that she was submissive in the bedroom seemed like a learned trait. How long had it taken Yahiko to control this woman?

Sasuke pulled on Konan’s hair to make her head be flushed to his shoulder. She let out a gasp just as Yahiko rocked his body over hers pushing his cock inside of her in a slow torment. Sasuke could feel the friction on his cock through the membrane separating her cervix from her anal canal.

Sasuke let out a slight moan and Yahiko leaned forward to kiss him. Slowly he moved his lips over Sasuke. He slowly pushed his tongue inside. As his thrusts became quicker his tongue forced its way further into Sasuke’s mouth.

Sasuke released Konan’s hair and wrapped his hands around Yahiko’s neck since it was that much closer. Yahiko pulled back slightly and smirked at Sasuke who stared at the man with half-lidded eyes.

Yahiko groaned and Sasuke felt the vibration of the sound in his fingers. His grip became tighter and tighter still and Sasuke could see Konan staring at him. She couldn’t hold back the sultry sounds escaping her lips. Yahiko’s thrusts had not only quickened but his cock had gotten that much harder. So much so that Sasuke felt the change. He tightened his grip over the man’s throat once more.

“Sa-sa-ke!” Konan tried to say his name. She was panicking as she saw Yahiko’s coloring change. But Yahiko was no stranger to being asphyxiated. Yahiko not only enjoyed giving pain but receiving it as well. But this was different, Sasuke wasn’t letting up and his body was becoming tense, his muscles straining as he tightened his grip even more. And Yahiko came hard inside of her just as his body became limp. Then she heard Yahiko’s neck snap. “Yahiko!”

Sasuke didn’t release his grip on the man’s neck. He was too angry for what this man had done to Fū and what Suigetsu was forced to do. Sasuke was beside himself with rage and he wasn’t thinking clearly.

“Graaahhh!”

Konan tried to move out of his grip but Sasuke pushed his heels deeper into her thighs. It was then that he finally released Yahiko’s body and pushed it away. He then decided to wrap his hands around Konan’s neck. But he didn’t tighten his grip. He caressed the soft flesh with his fingers. He was massaging the cricoid cartilage with firm fingertips.

“You plan on killing me too?” Konan said through tight lips. Her words may have sounded brave but she was shaking in fear. And Sasuke could feel it.

“Haven’t you noticed yet?” Sasuke said and slowly pulled out until only his cock tip remained inside her before he rocked back into her. “I haven’t come. If you want me to let you go…scream for me!”

Sasuke then began to thrust into her roughly. He kept his heels against her thighs. The area was already sore and she knew she would bruise. But Sasuke was a beast and she couldn’t help but scream.

“I want you to come for me,” Sasuke said in her ear. His teeth nipping the soft flesh. He continued to assault her neck. His thrust becoming erratic. “Touch yourself and come for me.”

Konan heard the command in his voice. She had to forget her fear and the loss of her lover. She needed to survive. She had to be the one to tell Nagato what had happened. The reason why they had failed and why she couldn’t protect Yahiko. Tears streamed down her face. Her fingers moved viciously over her clit. And Sasuke continued his assault on her ass. She screamed more from the sadness and anger at losing her friend than the pain Sasuke was causing. What was that pain compared to the pain of loss?

“Good, girl,” Sasuke said right in her ear. “Scream harder! And come, you fucking bitch!”

Konan could feel her lust building. She had her eyes closed as she thought of the last time Yahiko had taken her against the shower tiles. She could almost smell him. She forced her fingers to move faster and she arched her back letting out a loud scream.

Sasuke cut off her voice tightening his fingers around her neck. He couldn’t help but come inside her. He had gotten far too excited at hearing her. And feeling the premature contractions of her vaginal walls on his cock. And just as he his dick was being milked dry, Konan came with violent spasms. And Sasuke squeezed her neck until it snapped.

The woman went limp in his grasp and he pushed her away. He was panting from the exertion. His hands began to shake as he looked at the two dead bodies. He felt nausea building in the pit of his stomach.

What had he done? What the  _hell_  had he done?!

“Aaaahhhh!”

Sasuke had wrapped his hands around his body and he was leaning his head back as he screamed in frustration.

“Sasuke!” Suigetsu said rushing into the room.

Sasuke’s eyes snapped to his friend and seeing Suigetsu take in what had happened in that room, his eyes widened and he leaned over the side of the bed and expelled the contents of his stomach violently.

“Sasuke, what the fuck?” Suigetsu said and slowly walked over to Yahiko and Konan’s bodies. He took their pulses and grimaced. “You killed them.”

Sasuke was coughing and gasping.

“Hey, calm down,” Suigetsu said and began to pat Sasuke’s back. “You did what you had to do. There was no other way to get them to lower their guards.”

He sounded so calm but he was just as disgusted with what had transpired than Sasuke was.

“Sasuke! Seriously, get a hold of yourself!” Suigetsu said pulling Sasuke to a sitting position with his hands on the man’s shoulder. “Jugo went on a rampage. I barely managed to escape.”

“What?” Sasuke said and blinked. He wiped his mouth with his forearm and stood up.

“He’s attacking the cell,” Suigetsu said as he looked around the room. He found a clean yukata and threw it at Sasuke. “He killed those other two goons. Come on! Before he kills Naruto and the others.”

That made Sasuke focus on what Suigetsu said. And after tying the yukata closed, he rushed out of the room and towards the cell. Suigetsu stayed back looking for anything useful. He found some rope and then rushed out of the room after Sasuke.

* * *

“Hey, man,” Naruto said with his hands raised in a placating manner.

Jugo was screaming about wanting to kill them as he rammed into the cell door over and over.

“He’s bending the hinges,” Utakata said as he eyed the damage that Jugo was causing.

“It won’t be long before he gets it open,” Gaara said with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Alright, we should help him tear it down, then we can make our move to get the fuck out of town,” Killer Bee said with a sharp nod.

“He is our key to escape,” Gaara said agreeing with Bee as they both moved to pull the bars towards them.

“But what are we going to do when he gets inside?” Naruto said scratching his head.

“Come up with a plan to knock him out,” Utakata said calmly. He went to the bench that was against the wall but the thing wouldn’t budge. “It’s screwed to the floor.”

“He’s going to kill us, there’s no way to knock him out!” Naruto said and gripped his hair.

“Calm down. I’m sure there’s a way,” Utakata said as he watched Gaara and Bee continue to help bend the bars forcing the hinges to bend,

“Have you ever wrestled with a raging bull?!”

“Have you?” Utakata regarded him with a raised eyebrow.

“No! But that’s the point!”

Just then, Sasuke ran into the hallway and took in the scene. Jugo was in rare form. Suigetsu caught up to him and couldn’t help the expletive that escaped his lips.

“Fuck!” Suigetsu said elongating the word. “He’s going to kill them!”

At the sound of his voice, Naruto and the others turned to look at them.

“Hey, hey, Sasuke!” Naruto said and pointed at Jugo. “You can calm him down right?”

“I think I’ll kill the blond one first,” Jugo said as he rammed into the cell. “I’ve always wanted to kill a blond.”

“Sasuke?!”

“No,” Sasuke said without looking at Naruto. His mind was racing with ideas of what to do but he couldn’t come up with anything.

“But didn’t you—?” Naruto tried to say just as the cell creaked. They all took a step back. Jugo only needed to ram into the cell two more times at the most.

“It was an act,” Sasuke said garnering Naruto’s attention.

“An act?!”

“What? You thought I could command someone to snap out of a fit?” Sasuke said and pinched the bridge of his nose.

The cell creaked again and Jugo let out a shout of cheer.

“Oh, fuck,” Suigetsu said and placed a hand over his heart. “They’re done for.”

Sasuke looked at him in annoyance and then grabbed the rope that Suigetsu had in his hands. He began to loop it around his arm and then proceeded to tie a loop.

Jugo burst into the cell and Naruto on instinct alone stood up and hopped out of the way, falling on his ass. He let out a pained noise when his foot touched the ground. Bee moved quickly and rammed into Jugo’s body with his own. Jugo fell and reached out to grab Bee but the man had already moved out of the way. Gaara wrapped an arm around Naruto’s waist to help him stay off his leg. They moved over to the side and out of the way.

“Get out,” Sasuke said to them all as he stepped into the cell.

Jugo looked at Sasuke and stood up.

“I will kill you! I will kill all of you!”

Sasuke began to swing the rope over his head. In a swift maneuver, he released the rope and it wrapped around Jugo’s feet just as he was charging at Sasuke.

“Suigetsu, a hand!” Sasuke shouted. But it wasn’t only Suigetsu that ran into the cell, Bee followed him as well.

Jugo fell and went to remove the rope from his legs but Suigetsu and Bee pinned him down. Sasuke quickly worked the rope to tie his hands and legs together.

“Now what?” Naruto asked as he looked at Jugo continue to fight the restraints.

“We need to wait until he calms down,” Sasuke said and gestured that they all follow him.

They needed to leave as quickly as possible. Because there was no telling when the others would arrive.

“But what if he gets free?” Naruto said with a last glance at Jugo. He couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for the man.

“If he doesn’t see anyone, he calms down,” Sasuke told him in annoyance. “Forget about Jugo, we need to find our way out of here. We don’t have much time.”

“He’s right,” Utakata said.

“What happened to the others?” Gaara asked curiously.

“They’re dead,” Sasuke said coldly.

“Did you kill them?” Naruto asked nervously.

“It was either us or them,” Sasuke said looking at the other man in challenge.

“You shouldn’t take another’s life so casually!”

“Who said it was casually?!”

“Even so!”

“You would have rather died?” Sasuke said in frustration. “If that’s what you want, stay and wait for the others to arrive. Leaving you behind will make it easier for us to leave. Stay and let them kill you for all I care.”

“Naruto,” Gaara said looking at the other man sternly. “He’s right. Tomorrow they would have killed someone else. You, me, Utakata—”

“I get, okay?”

“Are you sure?” Utakata said with a small smile then turned to look at Sasuke. “Unlike him, I’m grateful for your help.”

“Shut up,” Sasuke told him and turned around to walk away from them. He turned a corner and then a next. The place was huge and it didn’t seem like they were going to find an exit any time soon. “We need to split up.”

“Good idea,” Naruto said in a low voice and mumbled something about bastards.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I posted this on FF a while back and forgot to post it here. The chapter is incomplete. I was experiencing some writers block due to something ridiculous really. But how I feel unfortunately does affect my writing and the lack thereof. I've recently started writing again but now sure when I'll be continuing this story. Apologies to all of you who do like this story and leave wonderful encouraging reviews.

"Sasuke," Jugo said with his eyes downcast interrupting the conversation Sasuke was having with the others.

"You should clean up," Sasuke told him when he got a better look at him. He knew it wouldn't take long for Jugo to snap out of his fit once he was left on his own. But there wasn't much he could do for the man at the moment. There wasn't time to be considerate of Jugo's turmoil. They needed to get the hell out of there yesterday. "We're about to leave."

"Very well," Jugo said and turned back to look for a room. He'd passed a few on his way to the garage area where the others had convened.

"As I was saying, we don't know if any of these vehicles have GPS or an engine immobilizer. Our best bet is to go on foot. The night will give us good cover. But we need to move fast. Bee," Sasuke said looking at the man. "I need you to take Naruto—"

"You expect us to separate?" Gaara said in annoyance. "I don't plan to leave Naruto on his own."

"He won't be alone," Sasuke told him and put a hand up to silence Gaara before he said anything else. "Out of everyone here, Bee and I know our way around Rain. Since we don't know which direction the main boss is coming from, we need to separate so that they can't follow all of us. Bee will head to Cloud. Since it's the furthest away, anyone who comes after us won't think to go in that direction. Naruto can't move on his own. His safest bet is to go with Bee since he has a contact out here who can get him out of Rain without being seen."

Gaara nodded accepting the explanation though he still had his eyes slightly narrowed.

"Gaara, you and Utakata should head towards Sand. If you move fast and don't have any qualms about borrowing a vehicle, you'll get there before dawn. Suigetsu, Jugo, and I will head towards the Leaf. It's what they'd expect most of us to do. Leave it to us to be the distraction. And unless any of you have a better plan, don't bother complaining. It's the best we can do considering our circumstances."

"Wait, hold up! How do you know so much about what Bee knows? You haven't even said a word to each other!" Naruto said in exasperation. He was supposed to go with this man he didn't know just because they were both being hunted. For all he knew, Bee could leave him to the wolves if they were cornered. And with Naruto's bum leg, there wouldn't be much he could do to defend himself. He was just as paranoid about everything as Gaara was if he was reading the redheads demeanor correctly, that is.

"Sasuke and I go way back; no need to worry little man, I got yo ba~ck!" Bee told him with a little body movement and nodded to punctuate his statement.

"Well, alright then," Naruto smiled at the man. Bee hadn't been saying much the entire time. But it was sort of hard not to trust a man who could rap in rhyme with such a positive outlook.

"Get going," Sasuke told him as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned on the wall behind him.

"What about you?" Utakata said seeing that the man wasn't leaving any time soon.

"I need to wait for Jugo," Sasuke said and Utakata nodded.

"Take care," Utakata told him and Sasuke simply nodded. He turned to look at Gaara. "So we head South from here?"

"Yes," Gaara told him giving a parting glance to Naruto who was leaning heavily on Bee. Naruto lifted a hand to wave goodbye before Gaara and Utakata turned away and headed out into the night. "I believe that is correct."

Naruto turned to look at Sasuke. He felt a little bad about how he'd reacted before. He knew that what Sasuke had done was out of self-defense. But they'd all heard Konan screaming and Naruto knew that Sasuke had made her suffer. It just hadn't sat right with him to think that this man could take any pleasure in killing. Naruto's job was to protect. His job was to save lives. And if he took any, it was with a heavy heart and only as a last resort. He just wasn't sure where Sasuke stood. Was he truly a hardened criminal? Naruto hadn't thought so when they first met. Though it was clear to him that Sasuke walked on the other side of the law, though Naruto assumed he'd just been skirting the line because of the life he'd been handed. But now, it seemed to him that Sasuke was so far the other side that perhaps he'd drag Naruto over if they'd decided to have anything to do with one another. Naruto had been looking forward to running into the other man again. They'd only had one night but it was enough to want...something more? He was skeptical about it now. It wasn't worth risking his career over something that could blow up in his face.


End file.
